As the U.S. continues to expand its chip export controls, South Korean and other multinational firms with semiconductor investments in China “face an uncertain future,” the Peterson Institute for International Economics said in a report this week. The report, authored by PIIE senior fellow Martin Chorzempa, outlines both the “collateral damage and new opportunities” for South Korean companies as a result of the Commerce Department's Oct. 7 controls (see 2210070049), saying Korean firms “have been some of the most impacted non-Chinese firms due to their large memory chip production facilities in China.” The report also recommends the U.S. do more to “reduce uncertainty” for allies operating in the region.

A new rule change by the Bureau of Industry and Security will subject a broader range of chemical mixtures to declaration requirements, including for export or import. The revisions, outlined in a final rule that takes effect July 3, lowers the concentration threshold level at which mixtures containing certain controlled chemicals are subject to the declaration requirements. The change brings the U.S. Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations “into further alignment” with guidelines adopted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in 2009, which established the lower concentration threshold limit for certain chemicals.

The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council will host a new “outreach event” next month to speak with industry about dual-use export control issues. The July 19 virtual event will help the TTC’s Export Control Working Group address the “streamlining of possible duplicative actions” faced by exporters who are required to obtain licenses in both the U.S. and EU. Other topics to be discussed include “the similarities and differences between EU General Export Authorisations and US License Exceptions” and information sharing between the exporter and the consignee. The outreach event will “feed into EU-US work” to help reduce the “administrative burden for both economic operators and government authorities.” Participants must register before 6 p.m. June 30.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week issued a correction to its June 14 final rule that added 43 entities to the Entity List, including various Chinese companies that support the country’s military (see 2306120030). BIS said it mistakenly included an entity in its “preamble justification” for the additions “but inadvertently did not instruct, nor provide regulatory text for, the addition of the entity to the Entity List.”

Canada granted the vast majority of license applications to export military goods during the 2022 calendar year, approving about 77% of the 4,747 applications it received, the country said this month. In its annual report on military exports, Canada said it approved 3,656 applications, denied 15, returned-without-action 249, saw 339 withdrawn, and canceled or suspended 22. Four-hundred and sixty-six of them remain under review.

The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 7 withdrew a final rule from interagency review that could have expanded its nuclear nonproliferation export controls, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. BIS had sent the rule for review June 5 (see 2306060015). A BIS spokesperson didn’t comment.

Think tank scholars said the World Trade Organization isn't well suited to deal with technology sharing restrictions, but that the G-7 and coordinated bilateral actions have been effective so far.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is working on a new final rule that could expand its nuclear nonproliferation export controls. BIS sent the rule for interagency review June 5, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week updated its guidance on authorization requests for U.S. persons providing defense services abroad. The document, which was last updated in January (see 2301060022), clarifies how to “identify” U.S. Munitions List defense service categories and commodity categories in the submission letter, states that “support documents” should be submitted as PDFs, notes applicants must address periods of U.S. residency even if they never lived in the U.S., and more.

Companies should be constantly assessing their export control compliance procedures because of the unprecedented pace of regulatory changes, which makes it “easier to be caught,” said Tamer Soliman, a Mayer Brown trade lawyer, speaking during a law conference hosted by the law firm last week. He said the government is “scrutinizing more and more transactions,” particularly as it tries to target Russian sanctions evasion attempts.