The U.S. Government has certainly had a busy summer, and the current administration was serious about its commitment to increased enforcement. Months ago, they stressed that enforcement was coming, and they have indeed followed through on that promise. See the below table for recent examples.
| Who? | Penalty | What Happened? |
| Andritz, Inc. (Pennsylvania) | $1.6 million | Exported EAR99 refiner plates to Germany knowing that they were destined to Russia without the required BIS export license. |
| Cadence Design Systems Inc. (California) | $140 million | Knowingly exported Electronic Design Automation (EDA) hardware & software and semiconductor design technology to parties on the Entity List in China that develop supercomputers in support of China’s military modernization and nuclear weapons programs |
| Andrew Pogosyan, of Omega Diagnostics LLC (Wisconsin) | Pled guilty, max penalty of 5 years in prison for the conspiracy charge and a max penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the smuggling violations | Exported to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Latvia, and Lithuania to conceal the ultimate destination of Russia of scientific and diagnostic research equipment components without the required licenses. |
| Interactive Brokers LLC (U.S.-based global brokerage firm) | $12 million | Provided brokerage services to Iranian, Cuban, Syrian and Russian occupied Crimean customers which are all sanctioned countries. Activities included processing of fund transfers to blocked Russian banks and dealings in securities issued by sanctioned entities |
| Global Plastics LLC (New Hampshire) and Marco Polo International LLC (New York) – both subsidiaries of MGI International LLC | $6.8 million | Knowingly misdeclared the country of origin and value of plastic resin products imported from China to evade duties. |
| Grosfillex Inc. (Pennsylvania) | $4.9 million | Submitted false customs forms to U.S. Customs and Border Protection claiming the furniture parts made of extruded aluminum were not subject to duties and attempted to hide the aluminum by packaging the parts as sham furniture “kits,” even after learning that they falsely claimed the parts were not subject to duties. |
Companies doing business in the Unites States, as well as their foreign subsidiaries and partners, must play by the rules which include following both the export and import regulations. The US Government is continuing to hold those accountable who attempt to evade and avoid those regulations which helps to create a level playing field for law abiding businesses.
If these recent enforcement actions have you wondering about your own compliance practices, we’re here to help. Schedule a no-charge consultation with one of our experts to ensure your procedures are sound and your business stays on the right side of the law.
Kristine Kelleher is a Trade Compliance Consultant for Export Solutions -- a full-service consulting firm specializing in U.S. import and export regulations.