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Commerce Restricts Polysilicon Stockpiling Ahead of December 4 Section 232 Tariffs: What Importers and Customs Brokers Need to Know
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Commerce Restricts Polysilicon Stockpiling Ahead of December 4 Section 232 Tariffs: What Importers and Customs Brokers Need to Know
Customs Broker, Import, tariffs, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Commerce Restricts Polysilicon Stockpiling Ahead of December 4 Section 232 Tariffs: What Importers and Customs Brokers Need to Know

On September 24, 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a temporary final rule at 91 FR 60505 establishing how the Department of Commerce will identify and restrict importers that stockpile polysilicon and polysilicon derivatives (Polysilicon Products) before the Section 232 minimum import prices and tariffs under Proclamation 11052 take effect on December 4, 2026. The rule caps weekly import volumes for new importers of record, creates a waiver process, and reminds customs brokers of their enforcement exposure. Importers of polysilicon, the covered HTSUS 3818 products, solar cells, and solar modules, along with the customs brokers that file their entries, are affected now.

Key Takeaways

BIS published a temporary final rule at 91 FR 60505 on September 24, 2026. It is effective September 22, 2026, through December 3, 2026.
Commerce is monitoring existing importers of record (IORs). An IOR that Commerce determines is importing Polysilicon Products in volumes substantially greater than its historic averages will be prohibited from making further entries of those products prior to December 4, 2026.
New IORs that registered with CBP on or after August 6, 2026, are prohibited from importing above fixed weekly quantities by HTSUS subheading, absent Commerce approval.
Prohibited or restricted companies may apply to Commerce for a waiver at Polysilicon232@bis.doc.gov. Commerce intends to respond within 14 days of receipt.

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-10-06T08:14:29-04:00October 6, 2026|Customs Broker, Import, tariffs, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

BIS FY2025 Annual Report Signals Major Increase in Export Enforcement
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BIS FY2025 Annual Report Signals Major Increase in Export Enforcement
Best Practices, EAR, Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)

BIS FY2025 Annual Report Signals Major Increase in Export Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released its Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report to Congress, providing a detailed look at the agency’s export control, licensing, and enforcement activity.

Key Takeaways

BIS reports an 18-fold increase in penalties, from approximately $16 million in calendar year 2024 to approximately $324 million in 2025.
BIS completed 53 administrative enforcement actions, resulting in more than $108 million in civil penalties during FY2025.
BIS enforcement activity included 455 warning letters, 705 detentions, 232 seizures, and 29 denial orders.
BIS investigations resulted in 65 criminal convictions of individuals and companies during FY2025.
BIS completed 1,840 end-use checks across 73 countries, demonstrating the agency’s ability to scrutinize transactions even after goods leave the United States.
BIS added 142 entities to the Entity List, including parties associated with advanced computing, quantum technology, hypersonic weapons programs, and Iranian drone procurement.
Licensing for Entity List parties has become significantly more restrictive: BIS reports granting only 16 new licenses to Entity List companies during Q2–Q4 2025.
Exporters should reassess restricted-party screening, end-user and end-use diligence, product classification, licensing procedures, recordkeeping, and escalation protocols in light of […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-09-11T14:55:52-04:00September 11, 2026|Best Practices, EAR, Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)|0 Comments

White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy: What It Signals for CFIUS, Outbound Investment, and Export Controls
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White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy: What It Signals for CFIUS, Outbound Investment, and Export Controls
CFIUS, EAR, Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Department of Treasury, Uncategorized

White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy: What It Signals for CFIUS, Outbound Investment, and Export Controls

As mandated by Section 10612 of the CHIPS and Science Act, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued the National Security Science and Technology Strategy (NSSTS), which implements the S&T priorities of the 2025 National Security Strategy. While framed as a technology strategy, the NSSTS previews concrete near-term action on CFIUS, outbound investment, export controls, and federal research security — direct touchpoints for clients in cross-border investment, controlled technology, and federally funded R&D.

Key Takeaways

CFIUS’ scope is set to expand. The Administration will seek authority, in consultation with Congress, to monitor high-risk “greenfield” investments and to expand CFIUS’s critical-technology jurisdiction, while continuing to calibrate scrutiny to an investor’s “verifiable distance” from adversary-linked actors under the America First Investment Policy’s allied fast-track approach.
Outbound investment restrictions will broaden. Treasury will refine and likely expand the Outbound Investment Security Program (Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act of 2025) beyond its current scope – AI, quantum, semiconductors, supercomputers, and hypersonics – to reach additional sectors implicated by China’s military-civil fusion strategy. Although the current NSSTS did not reference other countries by name, the strategy will likely be implemented in a way that circumvents particular investments in Hong Kong, Macau, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – in line with President Trump’s “America-first investment policy,” published in February 2025.
Export controls: deregulation and new restrictions in parallel. BIS is streamlining select controls (e.g., a […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-09-03T12:14:42-04:00September 3, 2026|CFIUS, EAR, Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Department of Treasury, Uncategorized|0 Comments

BIS End-Use Checks: What Happens When an Export Control Officer Calls Your Customer
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BIS End-Use Checks: What Happens When an Export Control Officer Calls Your Customer
Best Practices, EAR, Enforcement, Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Uncategorized

BIS End-Use Checks: What Happens When an Export Control Officer Calls Your Customer

BIS has published a plain-language FAQ on its End-Use Check program, the on-site visits its Export Control Officers conduct at foreign consignees and end users of U.S.-origin items. This article explains what those visits are, what your foreign customer will be asked to produce, the statutory and regulatory authority behind the request, and the consequences when a check cannot be completed. It matters because the penalty for a failed check falls on the exporter’s ability to ship, not only on the foreign party being visited.

Key Takeaways

An End-Use Check (EUC) is BIS verifying, on site and overseas, that your foreign customer is who it says it is and used your items the way the license or the EAR required.
A failed or incomplete check does not need a finding of wrongdoing to hurt you. The customer can land on the Unverified List, license exceptions disappear, and every shipment then requires a UVL statement.
Since October 2022, a check that stays incomplete for 60 days after Unverified List placement, because a host government blocks it, triggers Entity List proceedings.
The exporter’s exposure is set before the visit ever happens: by the accuracy of the license application, the quality of the paper trail, and whether the foreign party was told what to expect.
Diaz Trade Law prepares exporters […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-09-03T12:02:14-04:00September 3, 2026|Best Practices, EAR, Enforcement, Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Uncategorized|0 Comments

Getting Off the SDN List: A Practical Guide to OFAC’s Administrative Reconsideration Process
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Getting Off the SDN List: A Practical Guide to OFAC’s Administrative Reconsideration Process
Export, U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

Getting Off the SDN List: A Practical Guide to OFAC’s Administrative Reconsideration Process

Landing on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) is one of the most consequential things that can happen to a company or individual doing business in or with the United States. Assets are frozen, U.S. persons are barred from dealing with you, and banking relationships evaporate almost overnight.

The good news is that SDN designations are not necessarily permanent. OFAC maintains a formal process – administrative reconsideration – for petitioning to have a person, entity, or piece of property removed from an OFAC-administered sanctions list. This article walks through how that process works, what to expect at each stage, and where clients most often stumble.

Step One: Confirm You’re Using the Right Process

Before filing anything, it’s worth pausing to confirm which removal process actually applies to your situation, because OFAC’s administrative reconsideration process is not a one-size-fits-all remedy.

You are the designated party. If you, your organization, or your property appear on an OFAC-administered list because OFAC itself made the designation, the administrative reconsideration process under 31 C.F.R. § 501.807 is the correct path, and it runs through OFAC’s Reconsideration Portal.
The designation was made by the State Department. Some names appear on OFAC-administered lists because the Department of State designated them (for example, under certain terrorism-related authorities). Removal in those cases goes through […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-08-27T16:16:18-04:00August 27, 2026|Export, U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|0 Comments

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