By Karen Freifeld
(Reuters) – The Biden administration will crack down on companies that violate U.S. export rules, with stiffer penalties to deter future violations, a Department of Commerce (DOC) official said late on Tuesday.
“There are going to have to be some penalties that get everyone’s attention,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export control at the DOC, said at a New York University School of Law event on corporate compliance and enforcement in Manhattan. “I think we’re on the cusp of that.”
Axelrod said he viewed the $300 million penalty Seagate Technology paid in April after shipping over 7 million hard drives to China’s Huawei in violation of U.S. export control laws as a “down payment.”
“You can expect to see more big-ticket corporate resolutions going forward,” Axelrod said.
The DOC regulates and enforces export control rules and has drawn fire amid reports of U.S. technology illegally ending up in China and Russia in violation of regulations.