President Donald Trump is ordering the reversal of a years-old purchase of audio visual technology equipment supplier Jupiter Systems by China-based Suirui Group, saying in a Federal Register notice released July 10 that the deal threatens U.S. national security. Suirui, which describes itself as a supplier of communication cloud products and services, must divest from Jupiter within 120 days, unless the company is granted an extension by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is progressing on a final rule that would relax certain export controls on Syria. BIS sent the rule for interagency review June 8, about a month after an agency official confirmed that BIS planned to lift some controls over the country (see 2506100052). President Donald Trump on June 30 authorized the "relaxation" of Syria-related export controls, specifically with respect to items on the Commerce Control List (see 2506300055).
Microsoft President Brad Smith this week warned the U.S. against introducing new export controls that could prevent American companies from becoming the world’s leading exporters of AI services, suggesting the Trump administration should instead look into expanding or replicating the AI deal it announced in May with the United Arab Emirates.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a global audio electronics company $1,454,145 for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions, accusing its employees of shipping goods to a United Arab Emirates distributor that they knew would then sell the items in Iran.
A California-based digital interface design company said in its initial public offering this month that it may have violated U.S. sanctions.
Companies should expect the Bureau of Industry and Security to continue a steady pace of penalties against export violators, particularly for cases involving semiconductors and other advanced technologies, said Gregory Dunlap, the former special agent in charge of the agency’s Los Angeles field office. And if Congress grants the agency’s request for more funding, Dunlap said, BIS could soon have the resources to more quickly carry out investigations and probe a greater number of exporters.
The U.S. and its allies should consider using additional sanctions to force Iran back to the negotiating table over its nuclear weapons program, although more sanctions also risk pushing Iran to cooperate even more closely with China, Russia and North Korea, a former Pentagon official said last week.
The U.S. should take several steps to reduce red tape and streamline arms sales and technology transfers to close trading partners, including more frequently reviewing the jurisdiction of export-controlled items and combining reviews of weapons requests from allies, researchers said in a new report.
The State Department is revising the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to align with recent U.N. Security Council decisions involving the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan. The agency’s final rule, effective July 7, also updates the list of NATO members and major non-NATO allies and makes other corrections and clarifications to the ITAR.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week rescinded China-related export restrictions on multiple electronic design automation companies and a gas and oil pipeline company, a move that came less than a month after Washington and Beijing reached an agreement to rein in their respective export curbs.