U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called others to join him in condemning of the Jan. 6 violence at the Capitol. Lighthizer, in a signed tweet Jan. 6, said: “All patriotic Americans should condemn the violence we saw at our Capitol today. This is inconsistent with our democracy and our most cherished values.”
The Commerce Department extended a public comment period to receive feedback on an information collection related to U.S. foreign direct investment, the agency said in a Jan. 8 notice. The collection includes a quarterly survey on FDI that asks industry for information on “transactions and positions” between foreign-owned U.S. businesses and their “affiliated foreign groups.” The survey feedback is used to “derive universe estimates of direct investment transactions, positions, and income in non-benchmark years,” which helps the U.S. measure “the size and economic significance of foreign direct investment.” Commerce previously asked for feedback in October and allowed for a 60-day comment period, but now is extending the period for 30 days following publication of the notice.
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to choose Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to serve as secretary of the Commerce Department, multiple outlets reported Jan. 7. Raimondo, governor since 2015, is viewed as a moderate Democrat and has an extensive background in the financial sector, including co-founding a venture capital firm, according to The New York Times. Raimondo will take over an agency that is in the process of pursuing export controls over a range of emerging and foundational technologies (see 2011250054 and 2009170040), and that frequently has been used by the Trump administration to blacklist Chinese state-owned entities (see 2012180039). A spokesperson for the Biden transition team didn’t comment.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 5 to ban certain transactions with Chinese apps Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay and WPS Office. The restrictions, effective 45 days after the order was issued, will block transactions between any person or company subject to U.S. jurisdiction with people or companies that “develop or control” the apps. It also directs the Commerce Department to recommend measures to prevent exports of U.S. user data to “foreign adversaries” and to establish a licensing regime for those data exports.
The State Department approved five potential military sales to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait worth about $4.66 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Dec. 29.
China's implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement likely will have a “minor impact” on U.S. agricultural exports to China in the “near future,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Dec. 23. For goods that receive preferential treatment under RCEP, such as soybeans, “no Asia-Pacific economies compete with the” U.S. exports to China, FAS said. In addition, FAS said other products such as corn, wheat, rice and cotton fall under China’s tariff-rate quota regime, which “supersedes any RCEP tariff reductions.” FAS said RCEP is also “unlikely to change” China’s agricultural trade in the Asia-Pacific region, mostly because China has already secured bilateral trade deals with major trading partners such as New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and the members states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Also, the USDA earlier this month said it doesn't expect RCEP to heavily impact U.S. agricultural exports to Thailand (see 2012040022).
FedEx issued a December alert on its services and policies for shipping to Hong Kong and China items that are controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The company said its policies reflect changes the Donald Trump administration made in July to increase licensing restrictions and end preferential treatment for controlled shipments to Hong Kong (see 2007150019). FedEx said exporters that obtained a State Department license before the July restrictions were announced cannot use its International Controlled Export service option to ship certain controlled goods to Hong Kong because the restrictions suspended all license exceptions. The company also said it “cannot accept ITAR items” that are prohibited by its “service guides,” including firearms, weaponry and certain parts. “Even if the customer has properly obtained the required license/permit for exporting the weapons, these cannot be transported on FedEx Express International Services and service options,” the company said.
The State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency approved a potential military sale to Kazakhstan worth about $128 million, the DSCA said Dec. 23. The sale includes “King Air B300ER Scorpion Aircraft with Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) Mission Systems” and related equipment. The principal contractor will be Sierra Nevada Corporation.
U.S. exporters of plastic waste should be prepared for disruption Jan. 1, when new multilateral plastic trade restrictions take effect, according to a Dec. 21 post on the Sidley Austin website. Beginning in 2021, new restrictions agreed to by the Basel Convention will be put in place, expanding the type of plastic wastes subject to import and export requirements. The new measures will require traders to “receive consent” from the governments of the importing and exporting countries, including “countries of transit,” for more types of plastic waste, the law firm said. “These amendments will substantially change transboundary shipments of plastic waste and the waste and recycling industries overall,” the firm said, adding that the U.S. will not be able to ship “regulated plastic waste” to other Basel parties. The law firm said the amendment will have “serious effects” on the U.S., which shipped more than 1 billion pounds of plastic waste to nearly 100 countries in 2019.
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking tips from industry on ocean carriers and terminal operators that are violating regulations on detention and demurrage fees, the FMC said Dec. 17. The information will be used to aid the commission’s investigation into the unfair charges (see 2011200024) that began after industry complained FMC’s May rule on detention and demurrage was being ignored (see 2009140045 and 2011170041).