The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a correction for its January rule that expanded export restrictions on foreign military-intelligence agencies and certain weapons-related activities (see 2101140035), it said in a notice. BIS said it revised “an incorrect instruction that would have resulted in the inadvertent deletion of two subparagraphs” of the Export Administration Regulations. The rule would have deleted language that described licensing requirements for exports of certain rocket systems and unmanned aerial vehicles. “This was a technical error and BIS did not intend to remove the existing restrictions,” the agency said.
The State Department approved a potential military sale to Germany worth about $1.77 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said March 12. The sale includes “P-8A Aircraft” and related support and equipment. The prime contractor will be Boeing.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis is conducting its annual mandatory survey on foreign direct investment in the U.S., a March 10 notice said. BEA said it will contact all entities “required to respond to this mandatory survey,” including U.S. businesses that have a “foreign person” with a direct or indirect ownership stake at a certain level. Completed FDI reports covering the previous fiscal year are due by May 31, BEA said, or by June 30 for companies that use the agency’s electronic reporting system.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on ways the agency can help boost the competitiveness and capacity of the U.S. semiconductor industry, according to a notice issued March 11. The comments, due April 5, will help inform the Commerce Department’s policy recommendations to the White House as part of a February executive order to address supply chain shortages of semiconductor chips (see 2102240068).
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will hold a webinar March 18 on using the Defense Export Control Compliance System licensing application, DDTC said in a March 11 notice, which includes login information. The webinar will cover “key issues brought forward” by DECCS users over the past year, including uploading documents and tracking applications. The webinar will also give a “sneak preview” of upcoming DECCS features.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his upcoming meeting with Chinese officials to outline U.S. concerns over Chinese human rights abuses and illegal trade practices, Blinken told lawmakers March 10. The March 18 meeting in Alaska, which was announced March 10, will include National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese foreign affairs officials Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi. “This is an important opportunity for us to lay out in very frank terms the many concerns that we have with Beijing's actions and behavior that are challenging the security, prosperity and the values of the United States and our partners and allies,” Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The aerospace and satellite industry urged the Commerce Department to maintain staffing levels at the Office of Space Commerce until a new director is named, citing the office’s key role in aiding the U.S. aerospace industry. The office creates a “‘one-stop’ Commerce entry point” for connecting industry to other agency activities that directly affect aerospace companies, including export controls, the Aerospace Industry Association, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the Satellite Industry Association said in a March 9 letter. The groups specifically highlighted the importance of the office’s work to connect industry to Commerce efforts to place controls on “imagery analysis software” and promote trade. “[T]he space industry requires a strong U.S. Office of Space Commerce to drive continued growth here and abroad for U.S. space industry,” the groups said. Commerce didn’t comment.
The Port of Los Angeles launched a digital tool to allow traders to access truck capacity information and track cargo, which should help shippers and cargo owners better “predict and plan” cargo flows. The “Control Tower” data tool, launched Feb. 24, provides traders “snapshots” of truck turn times at the port’s terminals and “recent and future trending volume data,” the port said. Updates throughout the year will add more features. Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said the tool will help “get critical and reliable information to San Pedro Bay port stakeholders so that they can improve decision making and efficiencies.” The port is among many that have struggled to relieve container congestion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a rise in detention and demurrage fees (see 2102090028).
Apple last week introduced a new ethics and compliance webpage, featuring a detailed outline of its trade compliance policies surrounding export controls and sanctions. A table of all Apple products provides their respective Export Control Classification Numbers and which destinations are blocked from receiving Apple products. The company said all its products qualify as mass market products and are subject to the Export Administration Regulations but are not controlled as dual-use goods by the Wassenaar Arrangement. Apple said some of its goods may be eligible for the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Iranian General License No. D1 and Bureau of Industry and Security license exceptions related to Cuba. OFAC fined Apple about $465,000 in November 2019 after the company hosted, sold and helped transfer software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company (see 1911250064).
The Commerce Department on Feb. 26 announced three new staffing appointments to the Bureau of Industry and Security. Steven Emme, a former Akin Gump trade counsel, was named chief of staff; Sahar Hafeez, a former Pillsbury Winthrop trade lawyer, was named senior adviser to the BIS undersecretary; and Feras Sleiman, a former policy adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was named BIS's congressional affairs specialist.