Although the Biden administration appears to be leaning toward a narrower outbound investment screening mechanism than previously expected, that doesn’t mean the tool will remain narrow indefinitely, former U.S. national security officials cautioned this week. They also said they expect implementation to be challenging, particularly as the government tries to define specific technologies outbound reviews should capture.
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the Commerce Department hasn’t yet provided “acceptable responses” to oversight questions about the agency’s technology export controls. In a letter sent last week to Commerce, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the House committee may “use the authorities available to it to enforce these requests as necessary, including through compulsory process.”
The Biden administration should quickly approve shipments of "critical weapon systems" to Ukraine, including "Leopard 2 tanks, ATACMS, and other long-range precision munitions," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a Jan. 18 statement. The country's "current indecision" is "costing Ukrainian lives," it said, and the administration should approve the shipments "without delay."
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
FDA on Jan. 12 signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement with Switzerland’s Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) that will allow the U.S. and Switzerland to rely on each other’s inspections of pharmaceutical and veterinary drug facilities, avoiding the need for duplicate inspections, FDA said in a statement that day. Prior to the MRA’s entry into force, FDA still must “determine whether Swissmedic is capable of conducting inspections that meet U.S. requirements, and Swissmedic must make a similar determination with respect to the FDA meeting Swiss requirements,” FDA said. The MRA includes privisons on when the regulators intend to accept official good manufacturing practice documents from the other; how regulators will transmit the documents; and the establishment of two committees “to facilitate the effective functioning of the MRA,” said a release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which also signed the agreement.
The U.K. last week declined requests from Parliament to disclose more information about export control violations, saying it doesn’t believe the transparency will aid compliance or boost voluntary disclosures. The U.K. also said it’s bound by certain “confidentiality” requirements, including rules that limit the Department for International Trade’s Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) from releasing names of companies that have violated export restrictions.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark, in her annual "State of American Business" speech Jan. 12, said that if the Biden administration fails to strike a balance on how to respond to China's economic posture, it "could undermine our security, our economy, our competitiveness, and our future."
Mayer Brown announced partners Tim Keeler and Nikolay Mizulin as co-leaders of the firm's International Trade Practice, taking over from Duane Layton, who led the practice for 15 years. Keeler, who joined the firm in 2009, heads Mayer's Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. practice. Mizulin's practice centers on advising clients about "international and EU trade law, with particular emphasis on trade remedies, [World Trade Organization] Dispute Settlement, customs and sanctions," the firm said.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., new to the position, announced the committee's new Republican members:
Members of the U.K. Parliament are lobbying for the creation of a “dedicated select committee” on arms export controls. The current committee structure doesn’t allow lawmakers to devote enough time and resources to export control issues, they said, and limits their ability to scrutinize government export regulations, including licensing and control decisions.