Mr. Bilaniuk has wide-ranging experience counseling on export controls, both the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce for dual-use items and technology, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) administered by the U.S. Department of State for defense articles, defense services, and technology. 

EAR and ITAR Compliance Counseling and Licensing

• Advised clients in diverse industries including in aerospace, defense, automotive, information technology, telecommunications, energy, finance, industrial manufacturing, education, research facilities concerning various products, computer hardware, software with encryption, diagnostic equipment, technical data, and emerging technologies on:
  • self-determinations of jurisdiction including issues such as the “fundamental research” exception to dual-use export controls and the de minimis rule;
  • self-classification analysis;
  • formal commodity jurisdiction and commodity classification requests to government agencies;
  • risk-based customer screening based on red flags;
  • best practices in selecting Incoterms given export compliance obligations under the EAR and Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), and routed export  transactions;
  • ITAR brokering rules;
  • antiboycott compliance with respect to transactions with companies in the Middle East; and
  • licensing.
• Advised on transactions to destinations subject to significant export controls and sanctions such as China, Iraq, Sudan, Venezuela, and the Russian Federation.
• Counseled on compliance of sales to Chinese distributors who have Chinese military customers given export controls on Chinese military end users and military end uses.
• Counseled on transactions involving Huawei and Huawei affiliates listed on the BIS Entity List for a range of clients in information technology, telecommunications, and industrial manufacturing sectors; submitted license applications to BIS for such transactions, and secured BIS license.
• Counseled on encryption export controls for a range of IT clients including on the applicability of BIS License Exception ENC for encryption commodities, software, and technology; counseled on implications of certain decontrols.
• Advised a U.S. construction company on compliance with EAR export controls for exports to Africa for solar park project.

• Counseled U.S. manufacturers on negotiations with distributors and representatives in China with respect to international trade compliance and compliance with legal provisions in light of China’s blocking regulations targeting extraterritorial application of U.S. law.
• Advised on export control considerations in broad range of agreements with counterparties in various countries, including research and development agreements, supply, technical service, marketing and distribution agreements, technology collaboration, and joint venture agreements.
• Implemented international trade compliance programs, policies and procedures for clients across wide range of industries, engaged in commercial contracting and government contracting.
• Performed export control risk assessments for clients across wide range of industries with existing trade compliance programs providing recommendations for updates and improvements to further mitigate risks, e.g., on processes for auditing existing distributors and onboarding new distributors.

EAR and ITAR Compliance Investigations

• Conducted internal investigation concerning BIS encryption export control violations for IT manufacturer; advised on implementation of new compliance policies; resulting voluntary self-disclosure resulted in no adverse actions.
• Conducted internal investigation for manufacturer concerning exports to Chinese distributors where end users were entities on the BIS Entity List; assisted client in developing improved international trade compliance measures.
• Conducted internal investigation of export compliance of manufacturer’s newly acquired subsidiary; voluntary self-disclosures of violations identified to BIS and the U.S. Census Bureau that resulted in no adverse actions.
• Conducted internal investigation of ITAR violations by defense article manufacturer for export of technology to foreign national employees; resulting voluntary self-disclosure to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls resulted in no adverse actions.

Mr. Bilaniuk has significant experience conducting Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) inbound investment national security jurisdictional reviews for U.S. and foreign clients on corporate transactions.   One reason he is able efficiently to conduct such reviews and lead deals through the CFIUS process is because such work builds on his export compliance practice.  Such work is often also a natural extension of the pre-acquisition international trade compliance review of a deal that he already conducted in, inter alia, assessing the export control classification profile of a target company’s products and technologies.  An export control classification profile of a target company is a critical step in determining whether there needs to be a mandatory CFIUS submission regardless of whether a target company engages in any exporting.  Mr. Bilaniuk prepares notices and declarations to CFIUS and also counsels clients with facility clearances on mitigating foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI) in advance of entering the CFIUS review process.  Mr. Bilaniuk also collaborates with colleagues in the real estate practice to conduct CFIUS jurisdictional reviews of real estate transactions involving foreign direct investment in compliance with the CFIUS regulations that pertain to real estate transactions.    

• Conducted CFIUS review and advised a UK company on whether its acquisition qualified as an exempted transaction.
• Conducted CFIUS review for European company on its contemplated purchase of U.S. software company.
• Conducted CFIUS review and counseled an information technology company target about how to structure non-controlling investment so as not to trigger CFIUS jurisdiction or mandatory disclosure of investment transaction to CFIUS.
• Advised and represented military aircraft component manufacturer and acquiring foreign company on FOCI mitigation and facility clearance issues before the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) and then on preparing CFIUS submission and during CFIUS review process.
• Advised armored vehicle manufacturer about FOCI mitigation and facility clearance issues with respect to proposed parent company and US subsidiary changes.