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Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration approved more than $23 billion worth of licenses for companies to ship U.S. goods and technology to blacklisted Chinese companies in the first quarter of 2022, a Republican lawmaker said on Tuesday. The data comes amid growing pressure on the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to further expand a broad crackdown on shipments of sensitive U.S. technology to China from Republican lawmakers, who now control the House of Representatives. The data comes a week after the Biden administration added new Chinese companies to the trade blacklist for aiding Russia’s military and months after announcing a sweeping new policy aimed at dramatically curbing shipments of chips and chipmaking tools to China. Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was added to a trade blacklist known as the entity list by former Republican President Donald Trump in 2019, amid allegations of sanctions violations, spying capabilities, and intellectual property theft. Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Marguerita Choy and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 3D printer company pays $2.77 mln for violating China export curbs -Commerce Dept
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - 3D Systems Corp on Monday agreed to pay $2.77 million in penalties to settle with the U.S. Commerce Department for illegally exporting to China controlled design drawings for military electronics and spacecraft, the Commerce Department said. In addition to the Commerce settlement, the company also entered into agreements with the Department of State and the Department of Justice, the agency said in a statement. Rock Hill, South Carolina-based 3D Systems, which provides 3D printing and other services to customers in the U.S. and abroad, emailed design documents, blueprints and technical specification to Quickparts.com, Inc., its then-subsidiary's office in China for price quotes, the Commerce Department said. The emails included design drawings for military electronics and the development and operation of spacecraft that required U.S. export licenses to send to Guangzhou City. 3D Systems did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ 3D printer company to pay U.S. up to $27 mln for violating export curbs to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - 3D Systems Corp on Monday agreed to pay up to $27 million to settle with the U.S. for illegally exporting to China controlled design drawings for military electronics and spacecraft, among other violations. Besides the Commerce Department, the company also settled with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State. The Commerce Department penalty is for $2.8 million. In addition to the aerospace documents, the Commerce Department said, 3D Systems exported metal alloy powder to China without a license, although it is restricted for national security and nuclear nonproliferation reasons. "The company is pleased to have reached a settlement with the agencies and remains committed to continuing to enhance its export controls program," 3D Systems said in a statement.

☆ U.S. hits Chinese, Russian firms for aiding Russian military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday added Chinese and Russian companies, including Russia's no. 2 mobile phone operator, to a trade blacklist for allegedly supporting the Russian military, deepening its crackdown on Moscow on the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. The moves show President Joe Biden's administration is broadening its efforts to thwart Russia's military, targeting companies globally for helping Moscow evade export restrictions and access key technologies. The U.S. Commerce Department added Public Joint Stock Company Megafon, Russia's second largest mobile phone operator, to its entity list for allegedly "acquiring and attempting to acquire" U.S. technology to support Russia's military. Of the scores of new additions to its trade restriction list, 79 were Russia-based, five are listed under China, and two are based in Canada.

☆ U.S. House panel to hold hearing on policy toward China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday with top officials on China policy to identify gaps in pursuing what it called a "more holistic approach" to countering aggression by the Chinese Communist Party. The hearing, announced by the panel's chair, Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican, is called, "Combating the Generational Challenge of CCP Aggression." Alan Estevez, the U.S. Commerce Department's under secretary for industry and security, who oversees restrictions on tech exports to China, is among the witnesses. McCaul has been pressing Estevez on the need to ensure China is not transferring U.S.-origin technology to state sponsors of terrorism, and has called for tighter restrictions on exports to blacklisted companies like China's Huawei, which are viewed as a threat to U.S. national security. Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. curbs slowly crippling Russia's military - official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - A top U.S. trade official said on Thursday that export controls placed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine have slowly reduced the supply of materials that Moscow can use to rebuild its war machine. "Evasion techniques are not going to get you the scale you need to reconstitute your military over time," Estevez said in an interview with Reuters. "It's easier to smuggle micro-electronics than it is to smuggle a CNC machine," Estevez said, referring to a computer-coded machine used for high-precision metal shaping and milling. Estevez reiterated that export controls and financial sanctions on Russia work over time, not at once. "Over time, Putin's war machine is going to be crippled, and as we continue to supply arms to Ukraine, their military capability is going up and Putin's is going down," he said.

The ban is expected to apply to some investments tied to chip production, two of the sources said. China hawks in Washington blame American investors for transferring capital and valuable know-how to Chinese tech companies that could help advance Beijing's military capabilities. The White House declined to comment and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That could include the long-awaited outbound investment order. Efforts to incorporate an outbound investment screening plan in legislation failed last year in Congress.

☆ Dutch, Japanese curbs on chip equipment to China may not be tough enough -industry group
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - A chip industry group is warning that if U.S. allies do not adopt curbs on semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China that are comparable to U.S. controls, they will not be effective. However, in a lengthy comment dated Jan. 31 on the October regulations, the group expressed concern that the allies' curbs would not be nearly as restrictive as the U.S. controls. It noted that U.S. equipment companies' share of the Chinese market has eroded for the past two years, as Chinese companies anticipated the new curbs. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which issued the October rules and has been working with allies, had no immediate comment. SEMI has over 2,500 members worldwide, including leading U.S. equipment makers Lam Research and Applied Materials.

NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A grand jury is hearing evidence in New York over former President Donald Trump's role in hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. A grand jury could lay the groundwork for possible criminal charges against the former president by the Manhattan district attorney's office. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified before the grand jury, one source told Reuters. Pecker was seen entering the lower Manhattan building where the grand jury is empaneled, according to the New York Times, which first reported on the grand jury on Monday. The moves are an indication that the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is closer to a decision on whether to charge Trump.

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Commerce said. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said: "Sanctions have no effect on Iran's drone production capacity because its drones are all produced domestically. This is a strong indication that the drones shot down in Ukraine and using parts made by Western countries don't belong to Iran." In January, Canada announced it would buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. The United States has provided two NASAMS to Ukraine and more are on the way.

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoJan 30 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has stopped approving licenses for U.S. companies to export most items to China's Huawei, according to three people familiar with the matter. Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) in 2020 received permission to sell 4G smartphone chips to Huawei. Licenses for 4G chips that could not be used for 5g, which might have been approved earlier, were being denied, the person said. American officials placed Huawei on a trade blacklist in 2019 restricting most U.S. suppliers from shipping goods and technology to the company unless they were granted licenses. But U.S. officials granted licenses that allowed Huawei to receive some products.

Jan 30 (Reuters) - The case involving former President Donald Trump's role in hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign will go before a grand jury on Monday, the New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The Manhattan district attorney's office will start presenting its evidence in the case, the newspaper reported, which would lay out the groundwork for any criminal charges against Trump. A witness in the case, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, was seen entering the lower Manhattan building where the grand jury is empaneled, the Times reported. The publisher had offered to help Trump by buying rights to unflattering stories and never publishing them. The moves are an indication that the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is closer to a decision on whether to charge Trump.

The investigation focuses in part on a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties. Both investigations involving Trump are being overseen by Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor and political independent. NEW YORK CRIMINAL PROBEAlthough Trump was not charged with wrongdoing, his real estate company was found guilty on Dec. 6 of tax fraud in New York state.

☆ Biden administration imposes China chip curbs on Macau
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday hit Macau with sweeping new export controls it previously imposed on shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to Beijing, flagging the risk that the technology could be diverted from the region to the rest of China. The United States in October placed the new restrictions on China, including controls on advanced computing integrated circuits and certain semiconductor manufacturing items, in a bid to thwart China's military modernization and punish it for human rights abuses. Macau has been a Special Administrative Region of China since 1999 when it was returned to Chinese sovereignty from Portuguese administration, the rule noted, adding that China gives Macau limited autonomy in economic and commercial relations. The Macau government information bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Commerce, Georgia, U.S. March 26, 2022. Trump's company faces only a maximum $1.6 million penalty, but has said it plans to appeal. Bragg and James are Democrats, as is Bragg's predecessor Cyrus Vance, who brought the criminal case. "The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told jurors in his closing argument. State law limits the penalties that Justice Merchan can impose on Trump's company.

☆ Longtime Trump CFO Weisselberg gets 5 months in jail in tax fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Allen Howard Weisselberg, the former Trump Organization CFO, appears for sentencing for tax fraud scheme in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., January 10, 2023. Weisselberg, 75, is expected to be sent to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail. Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. The jail time will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, at a facility known for violence, drugs and corruption. Weisselberg testified that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, and other documents at the heart of prosecutors' case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme.

Companies Trump Organization Inc FollowNEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A longtime executive for Donald Trump is expected to be sent to New York's Rikers Island jail after being sentenced on Tuesday to five months behind bars for helping engineer a 15-year tax fraud scheme at the former president's real estate company. Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that from 2005 to 2017 he and other executives received bonuses and perks that saved the company and themselves money. The sentence was imposed by Justice Juan Merchan in a New York state court in Manhattan. Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The former mayor, who has served as Trump's personal attorney, did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The source said the subpoena sought, among other things, copies of any retainer agreements between Trump and Giuliani, or the Trump campaign and Giuliani, and records of payments and who made those payments. In December, a District of Columbia attorney ethics committee said Giuliani violated at least one attorney ethics rule in his work on a failed lawsuit by Trump challenging the 2020 election results. Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Ross Colvin and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump executive Weisselberg prepares for jail on Rikers Island
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Those days will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, 75, at a jail known for violence, drugs and corruption. After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps. Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. It is paying Rothfeld as well, a person familiar with the matter said. Merchan will also sentence the Trump Organization on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to remove some Chinese entities from a red flag trade list, a U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday amid closer cooperation with Beijing. The plan to remove them soon from the so-called "unverified" list is thanks to greater willingness from the Chinese government to permit U.S. site visits, the person said. The decision, which mean U.S. exporters will no longer have to conduct additional due diligence before sending goods to the Chinese entities, may not herald a broader thaw. Companies are added to the unverified list because the United States cannot complete on-site visits to determine whether they can be trusted to receive sensitive U.S. technology exports. In October, YMTC was added to the unverified list along with dozens of other Chinese entities, fueling widespread speculation that the company would be added to the entity list.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department will continue to deny three U.S.-based firms' export privileges, the government announced on Thursday, saying the companies had illegally exported satellite, rocket and defense technology to China. Since June, the Commerce Department found additional U.S. companies that worked with the firms, involving the unlicensed export to China of firearm component and space technology details. The new order denies the companies' export privileges for another 180 days, and gives notice to other companies to avoid doing business with them. The department did not identify the companies who had contracted with the North Carolina firms. But, according to the department's June order, a U.S. aerospace and global defense technology company notified the department in February 2020 of a third-party supplier's unauthorized export of controlled satellite technology.

☆ U.S. blacklists companies for aiding Russian military
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday added 24 companies and other entities to an export control list for supporting Russia’s military or defense industrial base, Pakistan's nuclear activities or for supplying an Iranian electronics company. The companies include Fiber Optic Solutions in Latvia, which produces fiber optic gyroscopes and other equipment and Russia's AO Kraftway Corporation PSC, which calls itself one of the biggest Russian IT companies. Also on the list are Russian AO Scientific Research Center for Electronic Computing, LLC Fibersense, and Scientific Production Company Optolin, AO PKK Milandr; Milandr EK OOO; Milandr ICC JSC; Milur IS, OOO; (OOO) Microelectronic Production Complex (MPK) Milandr; and Ruselectronics JSC and Swiss based Milur SA. The Biden administration also added 10 companies in Pakistan and UAE that it says pose unacceptable risks of using or diverting items for Pakistan's unsafeguarded nuclear activities or are involved Pakistan's "nuclear activities and missile proliferation-related activities." Suppliers of U.S. goods must seek a special a difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to companies added to the list.

[1/6] Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of midterm elections, in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. November 7, 2022. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told reporters the company would appeal. SEPARATE LAWSUITThe Trump Organization separately faces a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James. The Trump Organization argued that Weisselberg carried out the scheme to benefit himself. "The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Steinglass said.

NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed an indictment against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL], formally ending a criminal sanctions case that strained U.S.-China relations. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn dismissed Meng's indictment with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. A lawyer for Meng and a spokeswoman for Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On the day Donnelly approved that agreement, Meng flew home to Shenzhen. On Nov. 25, the Biden administration banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from Huawei and China's ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) because they posed an "unacceptable risk" to national security.

"The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Steinglass told the 12-person jury in a New York state court. Company lawyers objected when Steinglass showed jurors a Trump-initialed memo said it showed the former president "explicitly sanctioning tax fraud." If convicted on tax fraud, falsifying business records and other charges, Trump's company faces up to $1.6 million in fines. Steinglass said Trump approved luxury apartments for Weisselberg and his son, and for chief operating officer Matthew Calamari and his son. "Free cars for you, free cars for your wife, free apartments for you, free apartments for your kids."

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