The State Department is finalizing an April proposed rule that will raise fees for registration with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the agency’s first fee increase in 15 years (see 2404230033).

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., urged the Bureau of Industry and Security Dec. 4 to close several “loopholes” in its new export controls on advanced computing chips and chipmaking equipment (see 2412020016).

The incoming Trump administration could look to continue expanding the scope of U.S. foreign direct product rule restrictions, which could lead to enforcement challenges or push foreign companies to design U.S. components out of their supply chains, think tank scholars said last week.

Pete Jeydel, a former lawyer with Steptoe, has joined Troutman Pepper as a partner to lead the sanctions and trade controls practice, the firm announced. Jeydel's practice centers on export controls and sanctions and "related areas" such as the new outbound investment security program, the firm said.

The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating reports that the Spanish government is denying port access to ships participating in the Maritime Security Program led by the U.S. Maritime Administration, it said in a notice.

A World Trade Organization dispute panel ruled on Dec. 5 that Panama's phytosanitary restrictions on strawberries, pineapples, bananas, plantains and dairy and meat products from Costa Rica violated WTO rules.

The U.K. on Dec. 5 officially updated guidance for its various sanctions regimes to reflect the passage of legislation earlier this year that gives its sanctions agency greater intelligence-gathering and enforcement powers (see 2411260013). An update to the U.K.’s Russia-related sanctions guidance said the U.K. made a “range of technical changes with the purpose of improving” the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s “ability to gather intelligence on industry’s compliance with financial sanctions, strengthen OFSI’s enforcement powers, enable OFSI to conduct its licensing responsibilities more efficiently, and clarify financial sanctions legislation where there is existing uncertainty.” The country made similar updates to its guidance for sanctions against Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Venezuela and Myanmar.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in preparation for its April Special 301 Report on countries that don't provide adequate protection of intellectual property rights, is seeking comments as well as requests to testify at a Feb. 19 hearing.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill this week to delay implementation of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule by at least a year.

A federal government payment website, Pay.gov, no longer will accept payments through Amazon Pay after Feb. 22, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said this week. “Please be sure to have a different form of payment available when paying for a new or renewed registration” with DDTC, the agency said.