President-elect Joe Biden is expected to choose Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to serve as secretary of the Commerce Department, multiple outlets reported Jan. 7. Raimondo, governor since 2015, is viewed as a moderate Democrat and has an extensive background in the financial sector, including co-founding a venture capital firm, according to The New York Times. Raimondo will take over an agency that is in the process of pursuing export controls over a range of emerging and foundational technologies (see 2011250054 and 2009170040), and that frequently has been used by the Trump administration to blacklist Chinese state-owned entities (see 2012180039). A spokesperson for the Biden transition team didn’t comment.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo approved the creation of the Bureau of Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET), an agency that will “reorganize” the U.S.’s cyberspace and emerging technology security policy, according to a Jan. 7 notice. The agency said CSET will address national security challenges presented by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and “other cyber and emerging technology competitors and adversaries,” and will lead U.S. efforts “on a wide range of international cyberspace security and emerging technology policy issues.”

The State Department officially added Cuba’s Banco Financiero Internacional to its Cuba Restricted List, a Jan. 8 notice said. The addition blocks direct financial transactions with the bank under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, and subjects certain U.S. export applications for items to be used by the bank to a denial policy. The change takes effect Jan. 8.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 6 issued a frequently asked question to provide guidance on President Donald Trump’s November executive order to ban U.S. investment in Chinese military companies (see 2011130026). OFAC said market intermediaries and others may “engage in ancillary or intermediary activities that are necessary to effect divestiture during the relevant wind-down periods” with publicly traded securities of Chinese military companies. The agency clarified that transactions by U.S. people and investors involving investment funds “seeking to divest during the relevant wind-down periods to ensure compliance” with Trump’s order are allowed.

The European Commission on Jan. 7 updated a document authorizing certain dual-use export control authorities to European Union member states. The document lists national authorities “empowered in the member states” that can grant export licenses, block the transit of “non-community dual-use items” and grant authorizations for “the provision of brokering services.”

The U.S. should strengthen a range of measures to slow down China’s technology growth, including more foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions and prohibitions on Chinese acquisitions of U.S. technology, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Although many in Europe prefer the U.S. to remain technologically superior to China, Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, said little can be done to stop China's rise, and the U.S. should instead focus on increasing trade with China instead of decoupling. Both said the U.S. and Europe should collaborate more closely on industrial technology policy, including for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Amazon bought 11 Boeing 767-300 aircraft -- seven from Delta and four from WestJet -- that will join its leased air cargo network by 2022, it said Jan. 5. The goal is to continue delivering goods to customers “in the way that they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a natural next step,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice president-Amazon Global Air. The company will continue to rely on third-party carriers to operate its fleet, it said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 6 (some may also be given separate headlines):

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 5 to ban certain transactions with Chinese apps Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay and WPS Office. The restrictions, effective 45 days after the order was issued, will block transactions between any person or company subject to U.S. jurisdiction with people or companies that “develop or control” the apps. It also directs the Commerce Department to recommend measures to prevent exports of U.S. user data to “foreign adversaries” and to establish a licensing regime for those data exports.

The U.S. seized $7 million in Iranian funds related to a “complex international conspiracy” to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Justice Department said Jan. 5. The conspiracy involved the transfer of about $1 billion worth of Iranian funds to accounts around the world, the agency said. The money was intended to finance terrorism, it said.