Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

A key European Parliament committee this week voted 31-7, with three abstentions, to expand the bloc’s foreign direct investment screening rules, a move that could add more sectors to the scope of FDI restrictions and allow the European Commission to intervene in member state disagreements.

The U.S. executive branch has “really good authorities” to restrict exports of advanced computing chips but should improve how it wields them to prevent China from exploiting loopholes, a technology policy researcher told a congressional panel April 8.

Sara McNaughton, a former policy adviser for the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export administration, has joined advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies, the firm announced on LinkedIn. At BIS, McNaughton worked on “advanced technology policy, Middle East affairs, and stakeholder engagement,” her biography says.

Canada filed a dispute consultation request with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization on April 7, alleging that the U.S. government's 25% additional tariff on automobiles and automobile parts violate WTO obligations. The request said the duties "appear to be inconsistent with" U.S. obligations under Articles II and VIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

The European Commission has proposed 25% retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods in response to the tariffs on steel and aluminum President Donald Trump imposed last month (see 2503120042), according to a document seen by Reuters, the news service reported April 7.

A senior Chinese Commerce Ministry trade official met with representatives from more than 20 U.S. companies in Bejing on April 6 to discuss the Trump administration's "abuse of tariffs" and Beijing's retaliatory measures (see 2504040024), according to an unofficial translation of the ministry's readout of the meeting. Ling Ji, China's vice commerce minister, said he hopes American companies will "take practical actions" and "jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply chain." He also said Beijing is committed to multilateralism. The U.S. tariffs have "seriously damaged the rules-based multilateral trading system and seriously infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries," the official said. The meeting featured officials from Tesla, GE Healthcare, Medtronic and others, China said.

The State Department approved three possible military sales to Ecuador, the Philippines and Kuwait, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said last week.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., reintroduced a bill April 7 that aims to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely.

Reps. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, and John James, R-Mich., introduced a bill April 3 that would direct the administration to identify South African government officials and African National Congress leaders who should be sanctioned for human rights abuses or corruption.