The Senate on Jan. 20 voted 84-10 to confirm Avril Haines to be director of national intelligence. Haines, President Joe Biden’s first confirmed Cabinet nominee, told the Senate earlier this week that China is a “challenge” to U.S. national security and said she would work to counter unfair and illegal Chinese trade measures (see 2101190060). She also said the Biden administration will work more closely with allies as it considers whether to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear program agreement.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a Senate Finance Committee member, said the Treasury Department secretary might be confirmed early next week, if not sooner, and he thinks it's more likely negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on taxes could progress than will a settlement of the Airbus-Boeing dispute. Treasury leads on the digital services taxes (DST) front, while the U.S. trade representative, whose nomination will not come as quickly, leads on Airbus-Boeing.

Even though the Joe Biden administration will have a very different approach to trade than did the Trump administration, that will not mean a wholesale rejection of what its predecessors did, analysts said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar Jan. 21.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended 15 sanctions entries under its regime for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and removed two entries from its regime for Iraq, according to Jan. 19 notices. The U.K. updated identifying information for the 15 entries listed under the DRC and removed entries for Zuhair Talib Abd-Al-Sattar Al-Naqib and Amir Rashid Muhammad Al-Ubaidi under Iraq.

A 60-day freeze on pending rules, announced by the White House on Jan. 20, will temporarily halt the Bureau of Industry and Security push for new controls on technologies and activities that may be supporting foreign military-intelligence end-uses and end-users in China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and other “terrorist-supporting” countries. The changes were to take effect March 16 (see 2101140035). If the Biden administration decides the rule is in line with their enforcement priorities, the rule could go forward later this year.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Jan. 11-15 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The State Department updated its review policy for approving certain exports of precision-guided weapons to better ensure the items will not be used to harm civilians or abuse human rights. The change will affect license application reviews for direct commercial sales (DCS) of U.S. precision-guided munitions (PGM), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said this week, which will better align the review policy for DCS with the agency’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

President Joe Biden announced his acting agency leadership choices as he waits for the Senate to approve his nominees. María Pagan, deputy general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, will be acting head until Katherine Tai can be approved as the next U.S. trade representative. Pagán also served as acting USTR during the last transition (see 1701300020).

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 20 (some may also be given separate headlines):

Argentina recently lowered export taxes on a range of agricultural goods and imposed financing restrictions for importers of certain luxury beverages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Jan. 14. The government lowered export taxes for certain “specialty crops,” including apples, pears, blueberries, seeds and alfalfa, which is intended to boost the competitiveness of Argentinian exporters, and encourage exports of “products whose increased production will result in higher levels of employment, and for which increasing exports won’t raise food costs.” The financing restrictions apply to importers of certain luxury goods, including champagne, whisky and other liquors valued at more than $50 per liter.