The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking for candidates for its seven Technical Advisory Committees, the agency said in an April 27 notice. BIS said it will choose candidates from firms producing a “broad range of items currently controlled for national security, nonproliferation, foreign policy, and short supply reasons or that are proposed for such controls,” and will look to balance its TAC membership with officials from large and small firms. TAC members serve terms of “not more than four consecutive years” and must obtain “secret-level clearances” before they’re appointed. Applicants should send a resume to Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov by Sept. 30.

The State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency approved a $1.651 billion military sale to Australia, an April 23 news release said. The sale includes 12 “MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft” and related equipment. The principal contractors will be General Atomic Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Leonardo.

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is seeking comments on how it can best implement its “Program on China and Transformational Exports,” which authorizes Ex-Im support for certain export transactions containing a U.S content level of 51% or more and makes exports with Chinese content “presumptively ineligible” for financing. The bank specifically seeks comments on the level of U.S. and foreign content in certain “identified transformational export areas” to help it better support exporters “competing” with China, an April 23 notice said. Those export areas include emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing. Comments are due May 14.

The Bureau of Industry and Security extended its comment period for an information collection related to a request for appointment of a technical advisory committee, it said in a notice released April 23. The collection describes the functions and responsibilities of the Commerce Department TACs, which help advise the government on proposed revisions to export controls, licensing procedures and more. The comments, originally due March 15 (see 2101130013), are now due 30 days after the notice is posted on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on April 23 released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The 29 notifications, from October through December, feature arms sales to numerous countries including the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iraq, France and Italy.

The Federal Maritime Commission plans to permanently revise its regulations to give shippers and carriers more flexibility surrounding service contract filing requirements. The change, outlined in an upcoming final rule, will allow ocean carriers to file original service contracts with the FMC up to 30 days after they take effect, the FMC said April 19. The commission had introduced this change on a temporary basis over the past year to help carriers mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic but will make it permanent after receiving “positive” feedback from industry. Previously, FMC required carriers to file initial service contracts before they were allowed to receive and move cargo under the terms of that contract. The FMC expects to publish the rule in the “coming weeks” and said it will take effect June 2. It also published an unofficial copy of the rule.

More than 15 former U.S. national security officials urged the Biden administration to support and fund legislation aimed at aiding the semiconductor industry and boosting U.S. competitiveness toward China. The April 13 letter, signed by former CIA directors, national security advisers and Defense Department officials, endorsed the Endless Frontier Act (see 2104140051) and the recently enacted Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (see 2006110038), saying they will help build an “offensive strategy” to counter China and support innovation in critical technologies.

While Vietnam, Taiwan, and Switzerland exceeded thresholds established by the Treasury Department to identify potentially unfair currency practices, a report from the department released April 16 said there is no evidence that they manipulated their currency to gain unfair trade advantage. The report noted that in early 2021, Treasury offices began “enhanced bilateral engagement with Vietnam and is working with the Vietnamese authorities to develop a plan with specific actions to address the underlying causes of Vietnam’s currency undervaluation.” It was already engaged with Switzerland on the topic, and will continue those discussions. It said similar talks should be done with Taiwan. The report noted that the Taiwanese currency appreciated in 2020, but given the strength of Taiwan's economy that year, it did not rise as much as would be expected.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ Defense Export Control and Compliance System will undergo scheduled system maintenance April 19, DDTC said April 15. The system’s registration and licensing applications will be unavailable to industry from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. EDT. DDTC said users should make sure their work in progress is saved before the downtime.

G. Nagesh Rao is now the permanent chief information officer for the Bureau of Industry and Security after previously serving in an acting capacity (see 2101290059), a BIS spokesperson said April 12. Rao works as an information officer to help support BIS’s information technology modernization efforts, according to his LinkedIn profile.