It’s been a busy couple of weeks in space policy. Although the House Appropriations Committee kept defense funding flat at FY25 levels, it significantly increased funding for Space Force and RDT&E. On the north side of the...more
Good Afternoon! As we approach the 100-day mark for the second Trump administration, there is plenty of space policy news. Jared Issacman told the Senate during his confirmation hearing that NASA can pursue parallel moon and...more
Good Afternoon! Space developments have kept a steady pace these past two weeks. NASA terminated $420 million in contracts to align with DOGE’s cost-cutting push. The U.S. Space Force plans to launch 100+ satellites in...more
Good Afternoon! Though space policy hasn’t dominated recent headlines, plenty has happened over the past two weeks: The House Science committee outlined its space priorities and requested GAO review of FAA launch rules,...more
2/24/2025
/ Aerospace ,
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
GAO ,
International Trade ,
Japan ,
NASA ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector
Good Afternoon! U.S. Chamber launches space leadership council, Crew 9 has to stay…just a little bit longer, and new executive orders spur reviews, revisions and other activity across U.S. space agencies, and Akin’s Micheal...more
Good Afternoon! Forget the past two weeks, it’s been a busy week in the business of space. Since President Trump’s inauguration, Washington has been busy shuffling the deck on U.S. space leadership and priorities. Outside...more
U.S. export controls on space-related items were last significantly revised in 2014. Since then, the industry has continued to evolve towards a wider range of public-private partnerships and purely commercial activities,...more
11/4/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
ECCNs ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
ITAR ,
National Security ,
Outer Space ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Software ,
Technology Sector ,
USML
Good Afternoon! This is Akin’s biweekly policy newsletter on space policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major space headlines and forthcoming space-related events and hearings...more
On April 19, 2024, BIS removed almost all controls over exports and reexports to, and transfers within, Australia and the United Kingdom of items subject to the EAR. The action is the first change to U.S. export control...more
Key Points -
On March 2, 2023, DOJ announced that its NSD would hire more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate and prosecute sanctions evasion, export controls violations and similar economic crimes. Consistent with...more
Key Points -
BIS amended the EAR to add a new criterion for placing a party on the Entity List: a sustained lack of cooperation by the host government to schedule and facilitate the completion of an end-use check of an...more
Key Points -
The U.S. Department of Commerce has reorganized and clarified the regulations describing when foreign-produced items outside the United States are and are not subject to the licensing and other obligations of...more
Key Points -
The United States, European Union, United Kingdom and other U.S. allies are currently considering a range of severe economic measures against Russia to impose in the event of a Russian military incursion into...more
1/31/2022
/ Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine
As part of the United States’ response to Russia’s use of chemical weapons against Russian opposition figure Aleksey Navalny, the U.S. State Department applied a policy of denial to licenses and other approvals for exports to...more
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14032 (Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People’s Republic of China) (“CMIC EO”) that modifies the Trump-era...more
Key Points
- On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Commerce Department published an interim final rule (IFR) to implement Executive Order 13873 of May 15, 2019, on “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and...more
2/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Public Comment ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
- The U.S. Department of Commerce has published a highly complex and novel interim final rule extending the controls of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) over foreign-made items in Huawei’s contract manufacturing...more
5/21/2020
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Comment Period ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Direct Product Rule ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Manufacturers ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Public Comment ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department
- On April 28, 2020, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) through three notices published on the Federal Register. The changes...more
4/30/2020
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Exceptions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Final Rules ,
General Licenses ,
Licensing Rules ,
Military End Use ,
National Security ,
Proposed Rules ,
U.S. Commerce Department
• Since the addition of Huawei and many of its affiliates to the Entity List, there has been significant media coverage over which types of transactions involving the listed entities are, and are not, prohibited without a...more
5/29/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Software ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department
• On May 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a 90-day Temporary General License (TGL) authorizing limited categories of exports, reexports, or transfers that are otherwise prohibited pursuant to the addition...more
5/22/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
Manufacturers ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department
• On May 16, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a final rule adding Huawei and 68 other companies, mostly its non-U.S. affiliates worldwide, to the Entity List... The rule will be officially published in the...more
5/20/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
National Security ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
• On May 15, 2019, President Trump issued a long-awaited E.O. designed to curtail the use of telecommunications items and services from certain countries and persons in U.S. networks. The E.O. does not impose immediate...more
5/16/2019
/ CFIUS ,
China ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Infrastructure ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
New Regulations ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration
• On October 10, 2018, CFIUS announced a pilot program that implements significant provisions of FIRRMA. The program becomes effective November 10, 2018.
• Under the program, CFIUS jurisdiction will be expanded to cover...more
10/11/2018
/ CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Manufacturers ,
NAICS ,
National Security ,
Trump Administration
• ECRA became law on August 13, 2018. It is the permanent statutory authority for the EAR, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s BIS. The new law codifies long-standing BIS policies and does not require...more
9/12/2018
/ Arms Embargo ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Commerce Control List ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Control Reform (ECR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Licensing Rules ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
New Legislation ,
Notice and Comment ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Secretary of State ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Cree Inc. (“Cree”), the U.S.-based LED lighting and semiconductor company, announced last month that it is terminating its agreement to sell its Wolfspeed Power & RF division (“Wolfspeed”) to Infineon Technologies AG of...more