It’s unclear whether the Bureau of Industry and Security's decision to stop differentiating between emerging and foundational technologies under the Export Control Reform Act (see 2205200017) will have any real impact on export controls, law firms said. Torres Trade Law said this month that “only time will tell” if the change allows BIS to impose the controls more quickly, but companies should closely monitor the pace of upcoming restrictions, especially if they’re dealing in “cutting-edge technologies.”

U.S. officials are urging the Netherlands to ban ASML Holding from selling certain chipmaking technology to China, Bloomberg reported July 5. The U.S. is hoping the Netherlands expands an existing moratorium on the sale of the “most advanced systems” to China, the report said, and “ significantly” expand the type of chipmaking equipment subject to China-related export restrictions. American officials are specifically lobbying their Dutch counterparts to ban ASML from exporting its older deep ultraviolet lithography, or DUV systems, to China, the report said. U.S. officials discussed the issue with the Dutch government during Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Grave’s recent visit to the Netherlands.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this month updated its “Don’t Let This Happen To You” guidance, which includes summaries and case examples of past export control investigations. The 65-page document also includes an overview of the BIS Office of Export Enforcement, the agency’s various authorities and a section on BIS enforcement priorities, which specifically names China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to add more attorneys to its chief counsel's office to keep pace with its Russia-related export controls, a Commerce Department official said during the BIS annual update conference last week. The counsel has about 15 lawyers but expects to add more “in the coming months,” said the official, speaking on background as part of a conference policy for career staff. “It really has been unprecedented times over the past six months,” the official said, adding that the counsel’s office wants “to make sure that we can match” the rest of the agency “as the amount and intensity of work continues.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security has received very few license applications and questions related to its cybersecurity export control rule since it took effect in March (see 2110200036 and 2201110025) but is open to issuing more guidance to industry if needed (see 2205050023), a Commerce Department official said during the BIS annual update conference last week.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released its annual report to Congress on certain controlled defense exports. The report, released June 30, details the aggregate value and quantity of defense items and services authorized to each foreign country and international organization during FY 2021.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is still reviewing export controls on facial recognition software, surveillance-related products and other goods controlled for crime-control reasons, but it may move forward on the rule soon, a Commerce Department official said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has been receiving “a lot” of questions about what is considered a “major component” under the agency’s foreign direct product rule, a Commerce Department official said. Some exporters have asked BIS to issue a list of examples of major components for the purposes of the FDP rule, the official said, which restricts certain foreign-produced items when they are produced by a plant or by a “major component” of a plant that is a direct product of certain U.S. technology or software.

The Bureau of Industry and Security doesn’t have export control officers in Russia but has other means to monitor violations and to assess license applications, said Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official. Although BIS can’t conduct end-use checks in the country, it can still turn to “open source reporting” and other intelligence when considering a license, Axelrod said. “We have a lot of different tools at our disposal to help inform the licensing process,” he said during a June 29 news conference.

Export controls may not stop all illegal shipments, but that doesn’t mean the U.S. and others should not work to improve cooperation and coordination, experts agreed during a June 27 Brookings Institution panel.