As the e-commerce "business model has evolved, so have the potential threats," CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during a May 22 event. "There are digital venues that enable the direct shipment of small packages to retailers and consumers eager to find that great deal who instead may receive counterfeit items such as brake pads, air bags, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals." The growth in e-commerce is overwhelming on many levels. One industry member told McAleenan recently that not enough cargo aircraft are being manufactured to keep up with the growing demand over the coming decades, he said. "That growth has placed a strain of CBP's resources at our air, land and sea ports around the country."

The recent scrutiny of social media platforms like Facebook should be seen as a cautionary model for the regulators watching the rapid growth of e-commerce, CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during a May 22 event. "I think the recent developments in social media and the oversight of social media provide some context I think we should reflect on," he said. For e-commerce, as with Facebook, "the relevant regulators have to be cognizant of the potential risks that such expansion brings," he said.

The House voted 198-213 Friday to defeat the 2018 Agriculture and Nutrition Act farm bill (HR-2), which contained several broadband-related provisions, amid opposition from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who were seeking a floor vote on their preferred immigration plan. Thirty Republicans joined the unified 183-member Democratic caucus in voting down the bill. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., soon began the process to eventually seek a House revote on HR-2, though it’s unclear when such a vote will happen. The bill contained $600 million in funding for rural broadband and several other House Agriculture Committee-cleared broadband amendments. Those additions included language that would set FCC benchmark broadband speeds of 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads as the “minimum acceptable standard of service” for broadband programs supported by Rural Utilities Service funding (see 1804180076). The House adopted two broadband-related amendments to HR-2 Thursday, before the bill’s Friday defeat. One, from Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, would require the Department of Agriculture and NTIA to coordinate on broadband loan and grant programs. The other, from Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., would streamline the U.S. Forest Service’s application process for broadband infrastructure projects on federal lands.

The House voted 198-213 Friday to defeat the 2018 Agriculture and Nutrition Act farm bill (HR-2), which contained several broadband-related provisions, amid opposition from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who were seeking a floor vote on their preferred immigration plan. Thirty Republicans joined the unified 183-member Democratic caucus in voting down the bill. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., soon began the process to eventually seek a House revote on HR-2, though it’s unclear when such a vote will happen. The bill contained $600 million in funding for rural broadband and several other House Agriculture Committee-cleared broadband amendments. Those additions included language that would set FCC benchmark broadband speeds of 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads as the “minimum acceptable standard of service” for broadband programs supported by Rural Utilities Service funding (see 1804180076). The House adopted two broadband-related amendments to HR-2 Thursday, before the bill’s Friday defeat. One, from Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, would require the Department of Agriculture and NTIA to coordinate on broadband loan and grant programs. The other, from Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., would streamline the U.S. Forest Service’s application process for broadband infrastructure projects on federal lands.

ITU equivalent power flux-density (EPFD) limits are more than enough to protect geostationary orbit (GSO) satellites from nongeostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites, SpaceX said in an FCC docket 16-408 filing posted Thursday. It said once its NGSO constellation is operational, it will likely use 3,300 earth stations over a service area of 110 million square kilometers, slightly less than the planet's land surface. It said worst-case interference from those earth stations for reference antennas would be negligible and even if five similar NGSO systems were operating at the EPFD limit, the aggregate interference "would still be very reasonable." The company said when a SpaceX earth station is in the boresight of a geostationary antenna emitting the maximum planned effective isotropic radiated power toward the GSO arc, the interference would still be negligible. ViaSat said the FCC needs to adopt stricter EPFD limits.

President Donald Trump's frequent trashing of NAFTA doesn't really matter when the principals sit around the table, as they did May 11, said Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo. "President Trump has been very consistent, even before entering politics, he has had that view," Guajardo said outside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. While he said Mexico, Canada and some in the U.S. believe the economic integration of North America has been positive, he explained: "That is not what we are negotiating. We are not negotiating views. We are negotiating realities. We do believe, and that is something we agree with President Trump, that trade agreements and public policy have to be aware of how you have distortions in the system. And you have to accommodate the public policy to help those that feel displaced for trade. In that sense, these are new times for policymakers."

Roku is unfazed with Best Buy’s decision to phase out Roku support on Insignia-branded smart TVs under the exclusive multiyear partnership it announced with Amazon last month to sell Insignia- and Toshiba-branded Fire TV Edition smart sets in the U.S. and Canada (see 1804180002), said Roku CEO Anthony Wood on a Wednesday earnings call. Roku shares tumbled 12 percent the day of the announcement on speculation it would hurt Roku revenue, but Wood expects that Best Buy, Walmart and others will sell more Roku TVs this year than they sold in 2017.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its spring 2018 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a first mention of a final rule involving vessel repair unit locations. CBP regulations require "that when a vessel subject to the vessel repair statute first arrives into the United States or Puerto Rico following a foreign voyage, the owner, master, or authorized agent must submit a vessel repair declaration to CBP." Currently, the vessel repair entry is filed at the Vessel Repair Unit in New Orleans, but the regulations confusingly list two other VRUs, CBP said. The final rule removes the mentions of other VRUs.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its spring 2018 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a first mention of a final rule involving vessel repair unit locations. CBP regulations require "that when a vessel subject to the vessel repair statute first arrives into the United States or Puerto Rico following a foreign voyage, the owner, master, or authorized agent must submit a vessel repair declaration to CBP." Currently, the vessel repair entry is filed at the Vessel Repair Unit in New Orleans, but the regulations confusingly list two other VRUs, CBP said. The final rule removes the mentions of other VRUs.

President Donald Trump's frequent trashing of NAFTA doesn't really matter when the principals sit around the table, as they did May 11, said Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo. "President Trump has been very consistent, even before entering politics, he has had that view," Guajardo said outside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. While he said Mexico, Canada and some in the U.S. believe the economic integration of North America has been positive, he explained: "That is not what we are negotiating. We are not negotiating views. We are negotiating realities. We do believe, and that is something we agree with President Trump, that trade agreements and public policy have to be aware of how you have distortions in the system. And you have to accommodate the public policy to help those that feel displaced for trade. In that sense, these are new times for policymakers."