A former U.S. official and a Senate staffer who worked closely with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security’s handling of emerging and foundational technologies, saying the lengthy process is impeding the work of CFIUS. David Hanke, the former staffer and architect of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, called CFIUS’s reliance on BIS’s export control effort a “deeply flawed system,” while Nova Daly, the Treasury Department’s former deputy assistant secretary for investment security and policy, acknowledged the process is difficult but said BIS should move faster.
Canada published its notice for now-suspended plans to implement retaliatory tariffs on aluminum goods from the U.S. in the Sept. 30 Canada Gazette, Part II. Canada was set to apply the tariffs once the U.S. tariffs on goods from Canada took effect on Sept. 16, but after the U.S. decided Sept. 15 not to implement its tariffs, Canada said it would follow suit (see 2009150048). “Given the timing of the U.S. announcement on September 15, 2020, just hours before Canada’s planned announcement of surtaxes entering into effect, the Order in Council to impose surtaxes (the “Surtax Order”) was already approved and set to enter into force on September 16, 2020,” a Department of Finance Canada spokesperson said.
The State Department approved potential military sales to Switzerland and India worth more than $16 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Sept. 30. The sales include three separate purchases by Switzerland and one purchase by India.
The State Department may intervene in certain patent applications if they contain technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said in guidance issued Sept. 30. While DDTC said it does not “restrict” the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from publishing patents, it may impose an “invention secrecy order” on the patent application if it contains ITAR-sensitive information. That secrecy order would force the USPTO to “withhold the publication of the application or the grant of a patent.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration signed a memorandum of understanding that they say will lead to better agency coordination for U.S. dairy exports. The memorandum, released Oct. 1, will better align the FDA with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and Foreign Agricultural Service to help U.S. exporters address questions from trading partners, the two agencies said.
The Singaporean owner of an auto company was fined $418,000 (in Singapore dollars) after he tried to avoid paying duties on imported motor vehicles, Singapore Customs said in an Oct. 1 notice. The agency said two companies paid Tan Wee Leng, owner of Zion Auto Imports, to declare “suppressed” values for motor vehicles on duty payment permits in 2015. One company paid Tan up to $2,000 for each permit, which allowed the company to evade paying large amounts of import duties. Singapore Customs said he helped the companies avoid more than $150,000 worth of duties.
A lead negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership released a paper arguing that reentering the rebranded Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TPP is still the best way to deal with China's trade distorting practices, but her paper, and speakers on a Sept. 30 webinar, revealed the many barriers to reentry.
The Drug Enforcement Administration permanently placed the synthetic opioid crotonyl fentanyl into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final rule. The substance had already been temporarily listed in Schedule I since 2018. The final rule takes effect Oct. 2, when it is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 30 sanctioned a Cuban national for helping his country’s government oppress Cubans and Venezuelans. The designations targeted Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja, the head of the Cuban military-owned conglomerate Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A., the State Department said. Funds generated from the conglomerate are used to “oppress the Cuban people and to fund Cuba’s parasitic, colonial domination of Venezuela,” the State Department said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a New York travel services company nearly $5.9 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Cuba, OFAC said in an Oct. 1 notice. The company, Generali Global Assistance, Inc. (GGA), used a Canadian affiliate to evade U.S. sanctions, OFAC said.