The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs completed a review of a Commerce Department rule that would restrict additional exports and re-exports to Cuba, the OIRA said.

A top U.S. Department of Agriculture official is traveling with about 80 industry representatives and state government officials to Vietnam Oct. 15-18 to try to expand markets for U.S. exporters, USDA said in an Oct. 11 press release. Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney will lead the group to Ho Chi Minh City and also meet buyer delegations from Thailand and Burma, USDA said.

The State Department approved potential sales to Kuwait and Tunisia of about $281 million and $234 million worth of defense items, respectively, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in notices released Oct. 11. The sale to Kuwait involves 19 “M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lifting Extraction System (HERCULES) recovery vehicles,” the DSCA said, and the sale to Tunisia involves 12 “T-6C Texan trainer aircraft and related equipment and support.” The principal contractors in the Kuwait sale are Pennsylvania-based BAE Systems, Nevada-based US Ordnance, Texas-based Raytheon and Virginia-based DRS Technologies, Harris Corp. and Northrop Grumman. The prime contractor for the Tunisia sale will be Kansas-based Textron Aviation Defense

The State Department is not planning to release industry feedback on its draft guidance for exports of surveillance technology, an agency spokesperson said. The agency is beginning to “finalize” the guidance, a spokesperson said, and declined to answer questions about what kind of comments it received. “There is no public release planned for the comments that were submitted,” the spokesperson said in an email.

CBP seized a record 16 stolen vehicles during the 2019 fiscal year at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware, an increase from the port's previous high of seven seizures in 2012, the agency said in an Oct. 8 press release. The most recent seizure was a stolen 2018 Cadillac Escalade, worth more than $57,000, that was set to be illegally exported to West Africa, CBP said. Officers seized the car on Sept. 1 after discovering its vehicle identification number belonged to a Mercedes-Benz, the agency said, adding that it “routinely” expects cargo for “weapons, illicit narcotics, bulk currency, counterfeit consumer products, and other prohibited items.”

The Treasury Department issued a current list of countries that require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. The Oct. 10 list includes Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, unchanged from the previous iteration of the list.

The Congressional Research Service released a report on Oct. 4 on Brexit and its impact on the United Kingdom's trade agreements, the European Union Customs Union and the U.K.'s relationship with the U.S. The report also explains possible scenarios under a no-deal Brexit, how it will affect the EU’s economy and what the U.S. Congress would need to do in order to agree to a trade deal with the U.K. post-Brexit.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on Oct. 7 released its report to Congress on defense-related exports licensed under section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act during 2018. The report contains an overview that details categories and subcategories of the U.S. Munitions List in the report and an appendix with a list of which countries received the exports, including their value and quantity. The exports had an “authorized value” of about $63.4 billion, according to the appendix.

The U.S. is considering selling military goods to Greece as part of the defense cooperation agreement the two sides signed Oct. 4, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Speaking with reporters, Pompeo also said the U.S. plans to pitch U.S. companies on doing business with Greece, warned Greece about doing business with China and did not rule out the possibility of sanctions or other measures against Turkey if it begins offshore drilling near Cyprus.

The State Department approved a potential $39 million sale of defense items to Ukraine, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in an Oct. 3 press release. The sale includes 150 Javelin missiles and 10 Javelin command launch units, the press release said. The prime contactor is Washington-based Raytheon Company.