26-0617: Wednesday's "Export/Import Daily Bugle"

1. Today’s Federal Register (No items of interest.)

(Source: Today’s Federal Register)

2. Future Federal Register (No items of interest.)

(Source: Future Federal Register)

3. CBP Cargo Systems Messages

(Source: DHS/CBP/CSMS)

4. Commerce/BIS: “Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) To Pay $36 Million Penalty to BIS for Violations Pertaining to Shipments to Huawei”

(Source: Commerce/BIS, 17 Jun 2026) (Download as PDF)

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today announced a settlement agreement with Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch), headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, covering shipments of foreign-produced items to Huawei Technologies Co. (Huawei), or its affiliates.

Between September 16, 2020 and September 26, 2024, Bosch exported from abroad approximately $72,369,361 worth of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (“MEMS”) sensor products and automotive software for cell phones, items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (the EAR) pursuant to the Foreign Direct Product Rule, to Huawei and its affiliates on the Entity List without the required license or other authorization from BIS.

The MEMS sensors at issue have a broad range of consumer applications, including in smartphones, wearable technology, and automobiles. Bosch filed a Voluntary Self-Disclosure and cooperated with the investigation.

Bosch agreed to pay a penalty of $36,184,680. Bosch also agreed with the Department of Justice to disgorge profits, partially suspended, with actual payment of approximately $3.6 million. BIS is suspending approximately $3.6 million of its penalty as credit for the disgorgement.

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement David Peters stated: “Bosch had several opportunities to avoid these violations had they exercised the increased vigilance BIS has repeatedly said it expects of companies whose transactions are governed by the EAR. Today’s action should serve as a warning to embrace compliance and as an example of the benefits of voluntary self-disclosure.”

The full order, settlement agreement, and Proposed Charging Letter are available online here. This case was investigated by BIS’s Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office. For more information, please visit https://www.bis.gov/enforcement.

5. DoD/DCSA Announcements (Nothing new.)

(Source: Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency)

6. DoD/DSCA Posts “Standby Letter of Credit in lieu of Termination Liability Update”

(Source: Defense Security Cooperation Agency, 16 Jun 2026)

DSCA has posted Policy Memo 26-50 Standby Letter of Credit in lieu of Termination Liability Update. Effective immediately, this memorandum updates policy in reference (a) to revise the processes and guidelines to implement a Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC) in lieu of Termination Liability (TL). Specifically, the value of the SBLC is not required to cover the cumulative TL amount for all cases. Rather, the SBLC amount will offset the partner’s total TL requirement and is determined by the partner based on the amount of national funds it intends to use to fulfill its TL reserve requirement. This memo:

7. OMB/OIRA BIS and DDTC Reviews (Nothing new.)

(Source: OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs)

8. State/DDTC (Nothing new.)

(Source: State/DDTC)

9. Treasury/OFAC (Nothing new.)

(Source: Treasury/OFAC) [Excerpts]

10. UK Export Control Joint Unit Updates Guidance on Waste: Export and Import

(Source: UK ECJU, 16 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]

Guidance: “Waste: Export and Import”

The controls that apply if you transport waste out of or into England.

Change made: Updated section 9 on ‘Exporting waste under article 18 (green list) controls’ to add in a new section ‘Submit information when exporting under Article 18 controls’. This includes a new webform for reporting your likely activities for the next 12 months. Replaced links to ‘EU Waste Framework Directive’ with a link to ‘Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council’ on the UK legislation website. Linked to a definition of what we mean by a ‘single shipment’.

11. US Trade Representative (No new items.)

(Source: USTR Press Office)

12. White House Executive Actions (No relevant items.)

(Source: The White House)

13. ECD: “Former Official: US May Be Forced to Issue More Anthropic-Like Orders Without New AI Regs”

(Source: Export Compliance Daily, 17 Jun 2026) [Excerpts of subscription site.]

The Trump administration's export control directive to Anthropic, which forced the company to disable access to its advanced AI models represents an "unprecedented" use of the Commerce Department's export control authority and is a "remarkable contrast" to the administration's stated approach to AI exports, a former senior U.S. national security official said. He warned that the U.S. could issue similar orders in the absence of new AI regulations.

Brian Egan, a Skadden lawyer who served on the National Security Council during the Obama administration, noted that Commerce has in the past sent "is-informed" letters to companies to notify them of new export license requirements for their products. But the "breadth of the order issued with respect to the Anthropic models is unprecedented," he wrote for Just Security, a law and policy journal based at the New York University School of Law.

Egan noted that access to Anthropic's Mythos 5 and Fable AI models were previously "not subject to any export controls restrictions," but with one directive, they're now "apparently off limits for any foreign national, anywhere in the world -- including persons located in the United States." . . .

Egan added that it's unclear why only Anthropic received the directive, leading some to speculate that the administration targeted the AI firm after the Pentagon labeled it as a "supply chain risk" earlier this year. . . .

If the U.S. doesn't issue new and broader safety-related regulations for AI technologies, "Commerce may have no options other than to deploy one-off, private directives like the one issued to Anthropic -- which leaves industry and the American public in the dark as to the true nature of the threat being addressed," Egan said.

14. Expeditors News: “CBP Announces Next COAC Meeting Will be Virtual”

(Source: Expeditors News, 16 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]

In a Federal Register Notice (FRN) published on June 16, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it will be holding the next quarterly Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting virtually.

COAC will meet on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The meeting will be open to the public only through an online webinar.

Comments will be accepted for this meeting, with the deadline of submission being July 10, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Comments can be submitted either by the Federal eRulemaking Portal or by email to [email protected].

The Federal eRulemaking Portal can be found HERE. A link to the public webinar for this meeting will be published HERE by July 14, 2026. FRN 2026-12091 and more information on the COAC meeting can be found HERE.

15. ST&R Trade Report: “Original Section 301 Tariffs on Imports from China Will Stand”

(Source: Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report) [Excerpts]. Contact: [email protected], 1-305-894-1035

After years of litigation, the Supreme Court has officially closed the door on a challenge to President Trump’s first-term imposition of Section 301 tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of imports from China.

This case, which opposed the expansion of the initial China Section 301 tariffs to so-called List 3 and 4A goods, was first filed in 2020 and subsequently joined by thousands of importers. After a March 2023 ruling by the Court of International Trade it was taken up by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which issued in September 2025 a decision that: . . .

In the meantime, the second Trump administration has announced plans to take a number of other Section 301 tariff actions against a broad range of products and countries. The finality of the China tariff litigation has no practical effect on those actions, but it could strengthen the administration’s conviction that it has authority to modify any tariffs that may be imposed in those proceedings whenever and however much it wants in pursuit of its stated objectives. . . .

16. Baker/McKenzie: “OFAC Publishes List of Medical Devices Excluded from the General License for Non-US Agricultural Commodities, Medicine, and Medical Devices Destined for North Korea”

(Source: Global Sanctions and Export Controls Blog, 17 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]

On June 11, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC“) published in the Federal Register the List of Medical Devices Requiring Specific Authorization under the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR Part 510 (“NKSR“).

The export or reexport of these excluded non-US medical devices to North Korea requires a specific license from OFAC if US Persons are involved. Other non-US medical devices remain eligible for export/reexport to North Korea by US Persons under an OFAC general license issued on February 16, 2024.

The List of Medical Devices Requiring Specific Authorization is organized into two categories: “General Medical Supplies and Equipment” and “Laboratory” items. The composition of the List reflects a focus on dual-use laboratory and equipment with potential proliferation sensitivity, rather than routine clinical or patient-care devices. OFAC has used this “general authorization subject to a published exclusion list” approach in other US sanctions programs and these exclusion lists are very similar. . . .

Accordingly, a US-origin medical device (or other item subject to the EAR) destined for North Korea will generally require a US export license unless a license exception, such as License Exception GFT, is available. Under NKSR § 510.520, US Persons may be involved in exports or reexports to North Korea of items subject to the EAR if authorized under the EAR.

17. Cryptonomist: “US AI Export Controls: Anthropic Forced to Shut Down Mythos 5 Everywhere”

(Source: Cryptonomist, 17 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]

The United States has imposed a hard stop on the expansion of the most advanced artificial intelligences with an unprecedented intervention that led to the blocking of Anthropic’s Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models for all foreign users. This measure, without the possibility of differentiating access according to users’ nationality in real time, pushed the company to shut down both systems globally, marking an important chapter in the debate on US controls on AI exports.

[Full article]

18. DLA Piper: “ATF Publishes Regulatory Actions to Modernize and Streamline Firearms, Ammunition, and Defense Trade”

(Source: DLA Piper Insights, 17 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]

In May 2026, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) published 34 regulatory actions in the Federal Register. Eight of these actions address the permanent import of firearms, ammunition, and defense articles. The actions include six proposed rules, one direct final rule, and one final rule.

Collectively, these actions represent a focused effort by ATF to reduce regulatory burdens on importers of firearms, ammunition, and defense articles; align its regulations with the Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations (EAR); and modernize outdated provisions.

The regulatory actions align with the Trump Administration’s deregulatory agenda under Executive Order (EO) 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” and EO 14294, “Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.”

ATF has characterized most of these actions as deregulatory, imposing no new costs on industry while providing increased flexibility and reduced administrative burdens for importers of firearms, ammunition, and defense articles.

In this alert, we provide a brief overview of the proposed rules, direct final rule, and final rule; discuss the key changes; and identify practical implications for businesses involved in importing firearms, ammunition, and defense articles. . . . [Full article]

19. ECD: “BIS Hampered by Dysfunction, Little Productivity, Low Morale, Sources Say”

(Source: Export Compliance Daily, 17 Jun 2026) [Excerpts of subscription site]

Sitting onstage in a Commerce Department auditorium the same month he was sworn in as head of the Bureau of Industry and Security, Jeffrey Kessler was blunt. The agency would no longer prioritize discussions with other countries, including at multilateral forums. “As an organization,” he told BIS employees, “we need to pivot away from those.” But the directive extended further than many career officials anticipated.

Over the next several months, Kessler blocked staff from speaking with even the closest U.S. allies, including counterparts in the U.K., and rejected low-level, informational talks with countries like Canada, Australia and Japan, often with no explanation. Instead, he ordered staff members to give him detailed bullet points about why such a meeting would be necessary and what exactly would be discussed.

Those limitations — a marked difference from previous U.S. administrations, former agency officials said — are just one indication of how Kessler has isolated career employees. Since taking office, he has overhauled how BIS operates: alienating many career officials from internal talks about new rules, sending political appointees to watch over staff on overseas trips, and demanding control over reviews of routine export licenses traditionally handled by career licensing officers.

Recent interviews with more than a dozen people with direct knowledge of internal BIS operations, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose those details, shed light on the extent of those changes and what they said is an agency plagued by paralysis and disorder. . . .

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said his comments did not change the fact that Undersecretary Kessler has been a key asset for President Trump and Secretary Lutnick at the Commerce Department.

But other current and recently departed officials said they’re concerned Kessler’s haphazard approach to rulemaking, aversion to staff members speaking with even close American allies, and hesitation over what used to be routine export control program work threaten to derail an agency tasked with protecting sensitive U.S. technology and vetting hundreds of billions of dollars in dual-use exports each year.

Curbing Conversations With Allies. Kessler has directed some staff members in the Export Administration division not to speak with their counterparts in foreign governments without his or Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnuck’s approval, according to current and former BIS officials, effectively chilling both sensitive and routine discussions about export controls and other national security restrictions that had been occurring for years. . . .

The State Department continued to send its officials to the Wassenaar meetings in the spring, a spokesperson said. Spokespeople for both the department and Wassenaar declined to say whether BIS officials were present.

U.S. government officials, industry representatives and lawmakers said they’re increasingly worried about BIS efforts to distance itself from key export control discussions with trading partners, which could force the agency to turn to less effective unilateral restrictions and cede valuable opportunities to gather and share export enforcement information. . . .

Yet within BIS' Export Administration division, productivity has slowed to a crawl. In the 15 months that Kessler has led the agency, BIS has published 18 rules in the Federal Register, according to an Export Compliance Daily review of bureau data. That would be the fewest of any single calendar year since 2003. . . .

Some Licenses Being Held Indefinitely. Kessler continues to personally review export license applications received by BIS more than a year after first pausing many of those reviews, which has led to delays and backlogs, according to multiple people with knowledge of the process. Kessler uses a custom IT system that allows him to assess each application that BIS receives, according to former and current BIS officials. If his objection to a particular license isn’t resolved, he may hold it indefinitely, they said, even if it has already been cleared by other U.S. agencies. . . .

People familiar with Kessler’s license reviews said they usually didn’t receive a clear explanation for why he chose to hold a particular license. . . . But former and current BIS officials said the solution shouldn’t be Kessler reviewing applications, adding that he or any other single person doesn’t have the technical export control knowledge or expertise to be able to make those decisions alone.

The U.S.-China Business Council has attributed the long wait times for licenses to “administrative delays, capacity constraints, and internal disagreements over which policy direction to take”. It said its 2026 member survey, released this month, shows that license delays are “forcing buyers to go elsewhere.”

Staff Plagued by Low Morale. BIS earlier this month removed the names of the agency’s division and office directors from its website, according to multiple people familiar with the matter and an Export Compliance Daily review of the site. The names were taken down days after Trump signed an executive order transferring thousands of federal workers into a new job category with limited job protections, making them easier to fire without cause. Many of the BIS directors taken off the agency website were moved into that new employment category, according to people familiar with them.

Since the Trump administration took over last year, BIS has lost dozens of longtime and senior officials, some of them pushed out by Kessler and other administration leadership who have sought to replace them with political appointees

Current and former BIS officials described morale among the remaining agency staff as the lowest in recent memory. “People who I thought were unflappable are cracking,” one BIS official said. . . .

The House Foreign Affairs Committee aide said they’re hoping for Kessler to testify in July on the latest BIS budget request, although Rep. Kamlager-Dove said that “not even bipartisan concern from Congress has pushed him to reverse course.” “Every American should be alarmed that the person in charge of protecting our advanced AI technologies from adversaries like China and Russia is being actively destructive to the core mission of the agency,” she said.

20. ST&R Trade Report: “CBP Updates Forced Labor Guidance for Importers”

(Source: Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report, 17 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]. Contact: [email protected], 1-305-894-1035

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an updated operational guidance for importers regarding CBP’s enforcement of prohibitions on the importation of goods made with forced labor.

This guide expands a June 2022 guidance regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to include all forced labor enforcement. CBP states that it created this guide to:

To this end, the updated guidance provides a consolidated overview of the three statutory authorities and gives users greater transparency across CBP’s enforcement landscape, including the following: . . . [Full article]

21. Volkov: “Detangling Third-Party AI Risks — Reputational Risk When Your Vendor’s AI Misbehaves (Part II of II)”

(Source: Volkov Law, 16 Jun 2026) [Excerpts]

In Part I of this article we examined the agency principle in third-party AI risk — the situations where a third party acts on your behalf and its AI-related misconduct can be legally attributed to your company. This week, we turn to the other side of the framework: what happens when a third party provides incidental goods or services and does not act on your behalf?

The short answer is that your legal exposure is significantly reduced. But do not mistake reduced legal liability for reduced risk. In these situations, reputational risk steps in where legal liability steps back — and in today’s environment, reputational damage can be just as devastating as a regulatory enforcement action.

Incidental Service Providers — The Legal Analysis: When a third party provides goods or services that are incidental to your core business operations — an office supply vendor, a facilities management company, a cloud infrastructure provider, a catering service — that vendor is not acting on your behalf in any meaningful legal sense. They are selling you something. The agency relationship that creates vicarious liability does not exist.

If that vendor deploys AI poorly — using biased algorithms in its internal hiring, generating inaccurate outputs in its own operations, or mishandling data in ways that affect its own customers — your company generally does not inherit that legal liability. You are a customer of their services, not the principal authorizing their conduct.

This is an important distinction for compliance officers who are trying to scope their AI risk programs. Not every vendor relationship requires the same depth of AI-focused due diligence. Prioritization matters. . . . [Full article]

22. ACI Presents: ACI’s “EAR Compliance & Licensing Masterclass + ITAR Week” (Virtual Series, 13 - 31 July)

(Source: Shannon Kao, ACI)

23. List of Export/Import Job Openings

(Source: Editor)

RECENT:

FULL LIST:

24. Bartlett's Unfamiliar Quotations

(Source: Brainy Quotes)

Igor Stravinsky (Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky; 17 Jun 1882 – 6 Apr 1971; was a Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.)

“Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration, if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning.”

“I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it.”

M. C. Escher (Maurits Cornelis Escher; 17 Jun 1898 – 27 March 1972; was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held. His work features mathematical objects and operations including impossible objects, explorations of infinity, reflection, symmetry, perspective, truncated and stellated polyhedra, hyperbolic geometry, and tessellations.

“Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.”

“My work is a game, a very serious game.”

Henry Lawson (Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson; 17 Jun 1867 – 2 Sep 1922; was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest short story writer")

“Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer.”

25. Today in History

(Source: History Channel)

26. Do You Need to Update Your Daily Bugle Profile?

(Source: Editor)

Don't miss an issue of the Daily Bugle if you change your email. Click here to manage your profile.

27. Are Your Copies of Export/Import Regulations Current?

(Source: Editor)

The official versions of the following regulations are published annually in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) but are updated as amended in the Federal Register. The latest amendments are listed below.