The U.S. shouldn’t rush to impose new export controls on sensitive lidar technology, experts said, mostly because American firms may not have chokepoints over lidar and the restrictions may hurt U.S. export revenue.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, has urged the Commerce Department to consider placing the United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence firm Group 42 Holdings (G42) on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List, citing possible export control risks from the company’s work with China’s military, intelligence services and state-owned companies.
China imposed sanctions on five American defense-related entities for their involvement in U.S. military sales to Taiwan, a spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Jan. 7, according to an unofficial translation. The designations target BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Alliant Techsystems Operations, AeroVironment, Viasat and Data Link Solutions. Beijing said the sanctions will freeze any of their property in China and bar Chinese businesses, organizations and people “from conducting transactions, cooperation and other activities with them.”
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network should do a better job informing small businesses about its new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements (see 2401050023), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said in a Jan. 5 press release.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the Biden administration to reinstate the Houthis’ designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, citing the Yemen-based group’s recent attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The U.N. Security Council last week amended several existing sanctions entries that were designated for their links to terrorism or North Korea. The changes revise identifying information for five people and two entities designated under the ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions List and two entities with ties to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The Commerce Department is accepting nominations for a relaunched industry advisory committee that will provide input on U.S. export control regulations.
The U.S. should push for export controlled semiconductors to be installed with a mechanism that would automatically bar those chips from being used in ways that violate U.S. export restrictions, researchers said in a new report this week. They said this would significantly aid export enforcement efforts and could potentially allow compliant chip companies to sell to a broader range of customers.
The European Commission recently updated its more than 350 pages of frequently asked questions on Russia-related sanctions to provide guidance on its latest sweeping sanctions package announced in December (see 2312180070). The updated FAQs, dated Dec. 22, address how the EU will enforce new restrictions on Russian iron and steel products and their effective dates, how sanctions apply to certain divestments related to Russia, information on the EU’s new import ban on Russian diamonds and more.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network began accepting beneficial ownership information reports Jan. 1 as part of its new BOI reporting requirements, which are designed to help the government prevent sanctioned parties and others from hiding money or property in the U.S. FinCEN last week released a notice that outlines reporting deadlines for new and existing companies and what information must be submitted. The agency also released a set of frequently asked questions to provide guidance on the new reporting requirements, including who is responsible for filing and how FinCEN will enforce the requirements.