The Biden administration will soon announce a new “code of conduct” to improve export controls on goods and technology that could be used for human rights abuses, an effort being rolled out as part of the second Summit for Democracy this week, a senior administration official said during a March 29 call with reporters. The code, which the U.S. said it was “working to develop” during the first democracy summit in 2021 (see 2112090030), “commits subscribing states to better integrate human rights criteria in their export control regimes,” the White House said in a fact sheet.
Iran Export Controls
Certain items on the Commerce Control List require a license from BIS to export them to Iran. The Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) (31 CFR Part 560) also prohibit the export and reexport of goods to Iran subject to EAR.
The Biden administration this week plans to “unveil” new human rights-related export control measures as part of the second Summit for Democracy, a senior administration official said. The measures will show how the U.S. and its allies have so far implemented the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative, an effort announced at the first democracy summit in 2021 that was designed to lead to better guardrails on exports of surveillance items and other technologies (see 2112090030).
The Bureau of Industry and Society’s export enforcement arm is ramping up outreaches to exporters amid a rise in new restrictions against Russia and China, said Christopher Grigg, a former DOJ official. Grigg, now a lawyer with Nixon Peabody, said the agency’s Office of Export Enforcement is contacting more companies to specifically vet their record-keeping procedures.
Five people from Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were charged in two cases at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, DOJ announced. They allegedly tried to obtain and export U.S. technology to Iran from 2005 to 2013.
U.S. export controls against China could cause the country to dominate the global industry for “lower-capability” chip technologies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its annual threat assessment released last week. The DNI also warned that China, which is quickly building new chip factories, remains the “top threat to U.S. technological competitiveness.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 37 entities to the Entity List for a range of activities the agency said threaten U.S. national security, including for supporting Russia’s war effort, sending controlled items to China’s military and aiding companies already listed on the Entity List. The entities -- located in Belarus, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Russia and Taiwan -- will be subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with varying license application review policies. BIS also modified 10 existing Chinese entries on the Entity List. The additions and changes took effect March 2.
The U.S. announced a new, sweeping set of export controls and sanctions last week to further hobble Russia on the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, including additions to the Entity List, an expansion of industry sector restrictions on both Russia and Belarus, new export controls against Iran to address its drone transfers to Russia, and new financial sanctions against more than 100 people and entities. Many of the measures, which were announced alongside similar actions by U.S. G-7 allies, aim to “cut off the Russian defense industrial base and military from even low-technology consumer items,” the Bureau of Industry and Security said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced a host of new export control actions aimed at further limiting Russia from sustaining its war effort against Ukraine, including additions to the Entity List, an expansion of the agency’s industry sector restrictions on both Russia and Belarus and new export controls against Iran to address its drone transfers to Russia. The measures, effective Feb. 24, add 86 new entities to the Entity List; place additional restrictions on commercial, industrial and luxury goods; impose new license requirements on “low-technology” items destined to Iran; create a new Iran Foreign Direct Product Rule, and more.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans are asking the Bureau of Industry and Security for information on its export enforcement and compliance efforts involving China, including steps to crack down on Chinese transfers of controlled U.S. technology to State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSTs). In a letter sent to BIS last week, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the committee, said he is concerned China’s “economic and trade ties” with terrorism sponsors is “undermining U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.” He and Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., asked BIS to provide information on recent Chinese export violations, licensing procedures, end-use checks and more by March 2.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced two bills last week that could impose new sanctions and export controls against Iran. The Deterring Iranian Support for Russia in Ukraine and Pre-empting Terrorism Act (Disrupt Act) would require sanctions on Iranian entities that provide military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and would prevent the president from lifting sanctions on those entities unless Iran “ends its support” of Russia. The Sanctioning Transfers and Outbound Products to Iran Act (Stop Iran Act) would require the Commerce Department to increase export restrictions on Iranian entities that support terrorist activities and would better prevent U.S.-made products and components, including semiconductors, from being used to support Iranian terrorism, Lankford said.