In United States v. Shih, --- F.4th ---, No. 23-3718 (9th Cir. 2024), the Court affirmed a sentence in a case which the district court applied a base offense level of 26 pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2M5.1(a)(1) to a count on which a jury found Yi-Chi Shih guilty of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Shih violated the IEEPA by exporting to China, without a license, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, devices that amplify microwave signals. The offense arose out of Shih’s collaboration with engineers in China in conducting research for a Chinese enterprise that develops military weapons.
The base offense level of 26 prescribed in § 2M5.1(a)(1) applies if national security controls were evaded.
The Court rejected Shih's argument that the relevant export controls were foreign policy controls, not national security control.
