Kevin Wolf Quoted by Inside U.S. Trade on Expanded Commerce Dept. Control over Exports

Inside U.S. Trade, in its article “Export-control expansion could vex U.S. exporters to China,” has quoted Akin Gump international trade partner Kevin Wolf on a recent U.S. Department of Commerce decision to heighten control over export of “military end use” products if destined for China, Russia or Venezuela.

Wolf, who served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, Bureau of Industry and Security, said that this change puts U.S. exporters “on notice” regarding the risk of product diversion in their China sales, with the possibility that products intended for civilian use ending up supporting the Chinese military instead.

He noted that exporters will have to increase their due diligence to ensure they are not in contravention of these new export controls, adding that if exporters can verify via due-diligence procedures that their products do not have military end-use or end-user destinations, they will not be required to seek export licenses.

The article notes that the Bureau of Industry and Security is considering applications for export licenses to China, Russia and Venezuela under a “presumption of denial.” This presumption, Wolf said, does not mean that licenses will not be granted, but, instead, that the burden of proof is on the exporter to prove a good has as its destination a civil end-use or end-user.