The first few weeks of Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler’s tenure at the Bureau of Industry and Security have been defined by industry uncertainty and skepticism toward career government and business officials, industry members and BIS staff said.
The State Department has approved a possible $825 million military sale to Morocco, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said April 15. The sale includes “FIM-92K Stinger Block I missiles and related equipment,” and the principal contractors will be RTX Corp. and Lockheed Martin.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., whose nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. was recently withdrawn because of the tight House Republican majority, announced April 9 that she has been appointed to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who introduced a bill in January to prohibit AI technology exports to China (see 2502030031), said April 14 that he believes recent news about China’s AI activities might give his legislation a lift.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China said April 16 that they have asked U.S.-based Nvidia whether and how the company’s chips powered the recent development of an advanced artificial intelligence model by Chinese startup DeepSeek despite U.S. export restrictions.
President Donald Trump was set to join talks at the White House with Japan April 16 “to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS,’” he said in a Truth Social post earlier in the day. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were also set to attend, he said. “Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Chinese oil refinery Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co. Ltd. on April 16 for buying more than $1 billion worth of Iranian crude oil from “shadow fleet” vessels.
The U.S. government has told Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) that they must begin obtaining licenses to export certain computing chips to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and certain other countries, the companies reported this week in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
James Martinelli, a Treasury Department official, has been named the associate director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's policy division, he announced on LinkedIn. Martinelli has worked at Treasury since 2015 in roles at both FinCEN and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Trade adviser Sara Crossman has launched Crossman ITAR Consulting to advise on defense trade issues related to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, she announced on LinkedIn. Crossman was previously managing director for FTI Consulting.