Agriculture Thomas Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Aug. 24 announced 130 new industry officials to sit on seven agricultural trade advisory committees, including bodies that advise the government on trade policies for animal products, fruits and vegetables, grains, cotton, nuts and more. The new members, who join 70 committee members whose terms haven’t yet expired, will serve until August 2027. The new members represent a range of trade groups and companies.
The State Department approved a potential $500 million military sale to Taiwan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Aug. 23. The sale includes “F-16 Infrared Search and Track (IRST) systems” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin.
The Treasury Department this week released its list of countries that require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. Listed are Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. The list is unchanged from the previous version (see 2304070037).
The State Department approved a potential military sale to Poland that includes $12 billion worth of “AH-64E Apache Helicopters” and related equipment, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Aug. 21. The principal contractors will be Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The State Department approved $975 million worth of “M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems” and related equipment for a potential military sale to Australia, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Aug. 18. The principal contractors will be Lockheed Martin, L3Harris Corp., Leonardo DRS and Oshkosh Corp.
The Commerce Department is giving a selection committee more time to choose the board members for a National Semiconductor Technology Center (see 2304250032), a key piece of the Chips Act designed to bring together the government, national labs, chip companies, suppliers, academia, investors and others to collaborate on semiconductor matters. Commerce announced members of the selection committee in June and planned for the committee to “automatically terminate” by Aug. 31, but the agency said this week the committee “would benefit from additional time to complete this important task.” The termination date will now be Sept. 30.
A federal government payment website, Pay.gov, may be offline Aug. 19 from 6 p.m to 10 p.m. EDT during a "disaster recovery exercise," the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said. The outage will affect users paying their registration fees during this window. Users should direct questions and concerns to pay.gov customer support at 800-624-1373 or pay.gov.clev@clev.frb.org.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on China's compliance with its World Trade Organization obligations. Comments and requests to testify at an Oct. 4 public hearing are due by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 20. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. Comments may be submitted at regulations.gov using Docket Number USTR–2023-0008.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is extending its public comment period for an information collection involving its “simple network application process” and “multipurpose application form.” The process and form allows exporters to submit license applications, commodity classification requests, encryption review requests and other “notifications” to BIS. Comments were previously due Aug. 11 (see 2306090018), but the agency is allowing for another 30 days.
The State Department Aug. 14 announced a new package of security aid for Ukraine, including air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities and mine-clearing equipment. The $200 million package is being "executed from previously authorized Presidential Drawdown Authority," the agency said.