Robin Colwell, who most recently served as a deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and deputy director of the National Economic Council, is joining Intel as its senior vice president of government affairs. Colwell said on LinkedIn that she's starting at Intel in the new year after working in government since January 2025. Intel said Colwell will, among other contributions, help the company navigate the government's trade and national security policies.

The U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization published a blunt response to reform discussions, arguing that the underpinning of the WTO -- that all countries should receive the same tariff rate, unless there is a comprehensive free-trade agreement between them -- was naive, "and that era has passed."

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is launching an AI virtual agent Dec. 19 to provide DDTC site users with information technology support and to "enhance the DDTC experience for defense industry users." The agent, which will be "available 24/7," will use AI to "answer common IT questions instantly and guide users to helpful IT resources, making it easier and faster to resolve routine IT issues." For more complex questions, users can use the agent to connect with a human Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, DDTC said.

The U.S. will use its newly created Pax Silica initiative -- an effort alongside Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the U.K., Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia to strengthen the silicon supply chain -- as an opportunity to harmonize economic security tools, said Jacob Helberg, the State Department's undersecretary for economic affairs.

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 15 suspended the export privileges of six people after they were convicted of export-related offenses, including illegal shipments involving guns to Mexico, dual-use parts to Russia, items to Chinese companies on the Entity List, and more. The suspensions took effect from the date of their convictions.

The House passed a bill by voice vote Dec. 15 that would reauthorize the Federal Maritime Commission through FY 2027. The reauthorization was originally to be extended through FY 2029 but was shortened to match a recently enacted Coast Guard reauthorization bill (see 2506300066 and 2509180046). The FMC legislation now heads to the Senate for its consideration.

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., urged the Treasury Department on Dec. 12 to consider sanctioning Chinese-managed oil tanker Luois; its operator, Qingdao Ocean Kimo Ship Management Co. Ltd.; and its owner, Fung Nam Ltd., for their role in sanctions evasion.

A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to ask the U.S. trade representative to push Mexico and Canada to establish an investment screening regime and coordinate on "shared threats from investments in strategically important economic sectors and critical infrastructure in North America."

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., has asked the Commerce Department to explain how the Trump administration arrived at its decision to allow Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 AI chip to China (see 2512080059), the panel said Dec. 16.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tried and failed Dec. 16 to have the Senate vote on his bill to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism until it returns more than 19,000 children it abducted during its Ukraine invasion.