TradeLane

Since the end of the Biden Administration, the direction of the Trump Administration’s Department of Commerce and Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has been slowly materializing, giving us a glimpse of what U.S. export controls will look like for the next four years.

Starting in 2022, the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) implemented complex new export regulations that have a widespread impact on businesses. The first BIS update to include the Advanced Semiconductor Controls regulations was originally published on October 7th, 2022. The update just celebrated its first birthday and was recently updated to refine controls. Processing units for artificial intelligence workloads were a notable target of the update, setting tighter restrictions on AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment and introducing new BIS entity lists restricting transfers with hundreds of foreign companies.

Medical items being exported from the US to Russia, Belarus, and occupied regions of Ukraine may require an export license. The sanctions set forth under Sections 746.5, 746.6, 746.8, and 746.10 of the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR Parts 730-774, “EAR”) are designed to include the prohibition of medical item exports that support military involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. There is a policy of denial for The Ministries of Defense of both the Russian Federation and Belarus. However, license applications for health and safety, medical, and humanitarian items destined for civilian facilities are reviewed and may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Understanding Dual-Use regulation, or regulation controlling the export of commodities with a civilian or military end-use, can be complicated. The development of these rules and regulations continues. Regulators are trying to keep up with the technical developments in the market, geopolitical developments globally, and their own economic interests. European regulators meet with traders within the European Union periodically at the European Union (EU) Export Control Forum to discuss the topic at hand and share best practices and developments. 

On 26 January 2023, the Philippine Strategic Trade Management Office (STMO) issued an announcement (Announcement No. 2023-001) to exporters emphasizing the need to properly classify their goods under the National Strategic Goods List (NSGL) prior to registration with the STMO.