The Biden administration’s upcoming outbound investment screening rules should restrict both private and public investments, starting with “five to six priority sectors” but eventually expanding to more, said Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on China. Gallagher said the rules should stop Americans from investing in Chinese entities connected to the country’s military, human rights abuses or “technological rise,” should require Chinese companies to meet the same due diligence standards as U.S. firms, and shouldn't be adjudicated through a case-by-case process, which would cause uncertainty for American investors.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
While most shippers applauded the Federal Maritime Commission’s revised proposed rule on unreasonable carrier conduct, carriers urged the commission to again amend the wording, saying it unfairly favors exporters and stretches beyond the authority granted to the FMC by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022. Several major carriers said the commission should narrow the rule’s proposed definition for “unreasonableness,” allow carriers to rely on “legitimate business factors” as a reason for why they may refuse cargo space, remove the rule's documented export policy requirement and revise other proposals they say disadvantage carriers.
Two U.S. semiconductor companies said they still see opportunities to sell into the Chinese market despite sweeping export controls announced by the U.S. in October (see 2210070049) and potentially more restrictions coming soon.
The House Select Committee on China is investigating U.S. investment firms BlackRock and index provider MSCI for their “decisions” that led to Americans investing savings into “dozens of blacklisted Chinese companies,” including entities that contribute to China’s human rights abuses, the committee said this week. In letters to the two firms, committee leaders said their investment-related decisions have resulted in Americans “unwittingly funding” Chinese entities building weapons for the country's military and contributing to the government's goal for “technological supremacy.”
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. continued to see an increase in notices last year and initiated the most investigations since 2017, CFIUS said in its annual report to Congress released this week. The committee received 286 notices during calendar year 2022, a slight increase from the 272 it received in 2021, and began 162 investigations into transactions, 32 more than in 2021 and close to double the amount from 2020.
The most recent tri-seal compliance note from the Commerce, Treasury and Justice departments is another sign that the U.S. is increasing its focus on export and sanctions enforcement and of the government’s effort to push companies to voluntarily disclose potential violations, law firms said last week. The firms urged businesses to review each agency's disclosure policy, saying the note could mean increased risks for companies that choose not to disclose.
DOJ has been looking closely at companies’ approaches to communications platforms since revising its corporate compliance program criteria earlier this year, Caitrin McKiernan, a Steptoe lawyer, said during a webinar hosted by the firm last week. She said she’s working with multiple clients in assessing their compliance programs to make sure they meet the new standards set by DOJ in March, which could affect whether the agency offers to resolve an investigation without criminal charges (see 2303030056).
The Senate last week passed its version of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act with several trade-related amendments, including one that could establish a notification regime for, but not restrict, certain outbound investments (see 2307260029).
Despite some opposition from Democrats, the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week advanced multiple bills designed to ease technology sharing restrictions within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership. Two bills would create new license exceptions for certain defense exports to Australia and the U.K., and another would authorize the sale of Virginia Class submarines to Australia to help the Biden administration implement AUKUS, a deal that commits the U.S. to delivering the submarines within the next decade (see 2303130035).
The Bureau of Industry and Security shouldn’t renew the one-year authorizations it gave to certain foreign chip companies as part of its Oct. 7 China chip controls unless the agency makes “significant” changes to the restrictions when it finalizes the controls in the coming months, said Derek Scissors, a China policy expert with the American Enterprise Institute. Scissors said extending the licenses beyond their October expiration would “undermine” the Biden administration’s goal of denying China advanced semiconductor technology and unfairly advantage foreign companies over U.S. firms.