U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has “incomplete data” on whether certain foreign students pose technology transfer risks from U.S. schools to foreign entities, the Government Accountability Office said in a report this week. Although ICE has data on the number of graduate students, including from China, who pose tech transfer risks, the agency focuses its resources on “other priorities” and hasn’t looked to improve its data, which may be leading to information gaps about whether certain students have access to sensitive technology, GAO said. “Completing the assessment and improving student employment data could strengthen U.S. government efforts to identify and assess technology transfer risk.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection related to voluntary disclosures for violations of the Export Administration Regulations. Comments on the information collection are due Jan. 17.

The State Department approved a potential $700 million military sale to Switzerland, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Nov. 15. The sale includes “PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC) 3 Missile Segment Enhanced (MSE) missiles” and related equipment. The prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin.

Days after President Joe Biden said the U.S. may investigate billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter for national security reasons, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she sees “no basis” for doing so, CBS reported Nov. 15. Yellen told CBS that she wasn’t “sure precisely what [the president] had in mind, but we are -- we have really no basis -- to the best of my knowledge -- to examine his finances of his company. I'm not aware of concerns that would cause us” to investigate. Yellen’s comments came less than a month after Bloomberg reported that the administration was weighing whether it should subject the deal to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (see 2210210018).

The State Department sent a final rule for interagency review Nov. 15 to further reorganize the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule would reorganize ITAR part 120 to consolidate all definitions into one part and “organize the definitions in a manner that enhances their clarity and ease of use,” the agency said. The agency's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls in March issued the first in a series of rules expected to reorganize the ITAR (see 2203220013).

FedEx is furloughing workers in its freight unit in various U.S. markets due to a cargo slowdown, the company said in an emailed statement, Bloomberg reported Nov. 14. The workers will continue to receive health benefits, and some will be offered transfers to company areas that are still hiring. The announcement follows FedEx's move to cut cargo flights and park planes given the decline in the air-freight market, Bloomberg said. “The company will continue to evaluate the environment and bring back furloughed employees as business circumstances allow,” the statement said, though it did not mention the number of affected employees.

The U.S.’s best option to address potential national security risks arising from TikTok is through a foreign investment review rather than an outright ban, said James Lewis, a technology policy expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The State Department approved potential military sales to Lithuania and Oman, worth about $880 million combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Nov. 9.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls published the presentation slides from its Nov. 9 Defense Trade Advisory Group meeting. The slides include presentations from DTAG working groups on Part 130 reporting and joint ventures.

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in-person in Indonesia Nov. 14 to “discuss a range of regional and global issues,” the White House announced last week. The meeting will take place about a month after the U.S. announced new export licensing requirements designed to restrict China’s ability to acquire advanced computing chips and manufacture advanced semiconductors (see 2210070049).