July 2020

The former Managing Director, Xun Wang, of PPG Paints Trading Company, Ltd., located in Shanghai, pleaded guilty to illegally exporting high performance coatings to a nuclear reactor facility located in Pakistan. The company is a Chinese subsidiary of the U.S. based PPG Industries.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) will be adding two new entities to the Department of Commerce (DOC), BIS Entity list for denied trade parties. Both parties are accused of buying internet filtering devices from the United States and sending the devices to Syria.

Mr. Rudolf Cheung pled guilty this week to violating the U.S. Department of State, Arms Export Control Act (AECA). Mr. Cheung, a Massachusetts resident, was found conspiring to illegally export 55 antennae with military application, from the U.S. to Hong Kong and Singapore.

The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), Bureau of Industry and Security announced that three U.S. companies have agreed to pay $35,200 USD in penalties stemming from violations of current Export Administration Regulations.

North Carolina resident & former Staff Sergeant, Joseph Debose, pled guilty on September 6th in United States District Court specifically for violating the Arms Export Control Act. According to evidence, Debose supplied numerous shipments of firearms to co-conspirators who concealed the weaponry in packages and transported them to distribution companies to be sent to China.

Export activity provides immense opportunities for growth, stability and profit. With this opportunity comes risk and it is no secret that one of the largest risks any company faces when trading is compliance. Not only does international and national law & regulation continually shift and change, but stricter supervision and cooperation amongst authorities increases the burden of responsibility for compliance staff. Even brief application or processing delays can mean reduced revenue, profit, lost market share, and strains on valuable trading relationships.