Six months into the 2013 fiscal year, the Export-Import Bank has authorized $14.8 billion in financial aid, and that number -- and U.S. export performance -- will only continue to grow, Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg said at the opening of the bank’s Annual Conference April 4. Hochberg pointed to the rising middle class population, a group that will need more roads, power, telecommunications, and airports: “a huge selling opportunity for American exporters.”

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. received two applications for more than $100 million in financial aid -- for the export of Boeing 737 aircraft to Norway (http://xrl.us/bosq85) and the export of Boeing 777 aircraft to Ethiopia (http://xrl.us/bosq9o). The Boeing 737s will be used for short- and medium-haul passenger service between Norway and destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, according to the Federal Register notice on the application. The Boeing 777s will be used for long-haul passenger service between Ethiopia and points in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America and North America, according to the Federal Register notice. Comments on both applications, each one asking for more than $100 million, can be submitted through www.regulations.gov and are due April 29.

A handful of commercial spacecraft companies praised proposed changes to Category IV of the U.S. Munitions List, but warned against too-broad definitions and too-strict Missile Technology Control Regime guidelines, in public comments released March 26. The proposed changes are part of President Obama’s Export Reform Initiative. The comments were submitted to the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on specific changes to Category IV, which includes launch vehicles, guided and ballistic missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs and mines (read the proposed rule here).

The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding specified biosensor systems and associated software and technology to Export Control Classification Numbers in the new 500 series, for items that warrant Commerce control but aren’t currently identified in existing regulations. In an interim final rule published in the Federal Register, the Bureau said those items will be classified under Export Control Classification Numbers 0Y521 series, a sort of catch-all category equivalent to U.S. Munitions List Category XXI, which covers miscellaneous articles (see 12041302 for more on the final rule).

The Bureau of Industry and Security added 19 entries -- including 18 people -- to its entity list, a list of entities that have engaged in activities that could result in an increased risk of the diversion of exported, reexported or transferred items to weapons of mass destruction programs. The new entities are:

The State Department's Defense Trade Advisory Group is holding an open meeting May 9, from 1-5 p.m. ET, on the following topics:

The Census Bureau's Automated Export System's AESDirect is back online and the system's downtime policy is deactivated, the bureau said March 26. Electronic Export Information should be filed for all shipments exported under the downtime policy, along with any new AES transactions, to receive an ITN, the Bureau said. For shipments previously submitted, wait for a response and do not submit them more than once -- there is a backlog due to the high volume of shipments being processed.

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said March 26 DTrade2 and TRS will be undergoing system maintenance on March 29. DTrade2 and TRS systems will be unavailable from 5:30-11:00 p.m. EST.

China will collect antidumping duties on imports of M-dihydroxybenzene from the U.S. and Japan, the country announced March 22. China’s Ministry of Commerce said after an investigation -- which began in March 2012 -- it determined that dumping exists in imports of the chemical from Japan and the U.S., and “such dumping has caused material injury to China’s domestic injury.” The duties became effective March 23 and will remain effective for five years, the announcement said.

The International Trade Administration updated information ahead of its June 2013 trade mission to Russia for exporters of healthcare products, revising the application deadline from March 15 to March 29 due to the Easter holiday season. The mission will include one-on-one business appointments with pre-screened potential partners, market briefings, and networking events, it said (see 12122822). Up to 20 companies will be selected to participate.