The Bureau of Industry and Security again extended the comment period on an information collection related to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s bidding process, a notice said. The information collection pertains to the process BIS must undergo to determine whether U.S. firms are eligible to participate in NATO’s bidding process and supply certain goods. BIS previously requested comments in January and extended the comment period in March (see 2103170024). The agency said it will extend the comment period by an additional 30 days. Comments are now due by June 9.
President Joe Biden's administration will likely continue a ban on investments in Chinese military companies introduced under his predecessor President Donald Trump (see 2012290017), Bloomberg reported May 6. Although they will likely continue the measures, administration officials are still in “preliminary discussions” and a decision hasn’t yet been made, the report said. One former Trump administration official suggested that Congress codify the investment restrictions. The White House declined to comment.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, when asked by a top government relations official at General Motors about the semiconductor shortage, said, "I can assure you that I begin and end each day thinking about this issue." Raimondo said she's spoken with the CEO of every major auto company in recent weeks as she seeks to find a way to ease the supply crunch, which could last into 2022. "We’re working hard to see if we can get the Taiwanese to prioritize the needs of our auto companies because there’s so many jobs on the line," said Raimondo, who was speaking at a virtual conference hosted by the Council of the Americas on May 4.
Turkey recently removed its antidumping duty on U.S. cotton imports, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 29 report. The 3% duty, removed last month, was imposed in 2016. USDA said U.S. cotton exporters will see a “slight increase” in market share in Turkey.
The State Department's Defense Security Cooperation Agency approved a $2.42 billion sale to India, the agency said April 30. The sale includes six “P-8I Patrol aircraft” and related equipment. The prime contractor will be Boeing.
President Joe Biden has made his choices for several senior positions at Treasury, including the agency’s top sanctions and foreign investment officials, Bloomberg reported April 30. Biden will nominate attorney Brian Nelson to be undersecretary of the Terrorism and Financial Intelligence office, which oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and attorney Josh Berman to be assistant secretary overseeing Treasury’s work on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., according to the report.
In an annual report about intellectual property challenges around the globe, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative praised progress at the United Arab Emirates, and repeated concerns about dozens of countries' weak enforcement and policies it says are barriers to U.S. businesses. China, India, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Venezuela spent another year on the USTR's "priority watch list" for intellectual property violations, while Algeria moved to the lower-intensity "watch list."
The State Department's Defense Security Cooperation Agency approved two military sales to Australia worth nearly $2 billion, the agency said April 29. The first sale includes $1.69 billion worth of “Heavy Armored Combat Systems” and related equipment. The principal contractors will be General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE, Leonardo DRS and Honeywell Aerospace. The second sale includes $259 million worth of “CH-47F Chinook Helicopters” and related equipment. The aircraft will be provided from U.S. Army stock and will “not require the assignment of any additional U.S. or contractor representatives.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold its annual conference virtually in September, the agency announced this week. The Sept. 2 meeting will be a “full day virtual experience” from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. featuring keynote speakers, information sessions and live question-and-answer periods with BIS and other agency officials. The agenda will include sessions on changes to BIS military end-user and end-use restrictions, the expansion of the foreign direct product rule, and emerging and foundational technologies.
Nearly 300 agriculture groups and companies urged the Department of Transportation to intervene as carriers continue to decline shipments of agricultural exports. The agency should “utilize all existing authorities” and help the Federal Maritime Commission “in expediting its enforcement options” to deal with the carriers, the groups said, which are sending empty containers back overseas rather than filling them with exports because the carriers can charge higher rates for imports (see 2103050014).