The U.K. and Qatar during the third U.K.-Qatar Joint Economic and Trade Committee Aug. 24 announced two new memorandums of understanding to boost trade and investment between the two nations, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said. The MOUs include a new deal between DIT and Qatar's Investment Promotion Agency to help British businesses enter the Qatari market. The agreement will give information to companies on "strategic investment opportunities," and open the U.K. export market to vitamins and supplements. It allows Holland & Barrett to ship these goods to Qatar, the DIT said.
Several companies recently disclosed their filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. or updated the status of their ongoing CFIUS reviews.
The Biden administration should update Congress on the ongoing Iran nuclear deal negotiations, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “It is vital Congress have a clear view over how any agreement with Iran does or does not address the full scope of Iran’s malign activities,” he wrote in an Aug. 23 letter to the White House, in which he criticized the administration for its “lack of recent engagement with Congress” on the talks. “I urge you to provide a series of briefings to Congress” as “soon as possible,” he said.
As the Biden administration enacts legislation to bolster the green energy and semiconductor industries, the U.S. likely will see an influx of foreign investment in both sectors, which could lead to more filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., said Michael Considine, a Department of Energy official, speaking during a Vinson & Elkins webinar last week. He also expects some emerging clean-energy technologies to have dual-use capabilities, which also could trigger more CFIUS reviews.
A new Senate bill would add USDA to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and broaden disclosure requirements for land purchases by foreign entities. The Security and Oversight of International Landholdings Act, set to be introduced by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., will “provide oversight and transparency of purchases of U.S. agricultural land that threaten national security,” the lawmaker said this month, and will require CFIUS reviews of “agriculture real estate purchases by certain foreign entities.” Other lawmakers also have proposed adding the agriculture secretary to CFIUS (see 2106010003).
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.’s annual report to Congress (see 2208020043) shows CFIUS is reviewing record numbers of investments and sheds light on how the Biden administration is approaching screening efforts, especially surrounding Chinese companies, law firms said. The report also indicates that companies should expect even more government scrutiny of foreign direct investments in coming years, firms said, including for non-notified transactions.
The State Department designated two Belarusian government officials for their “significant role” in the country’s 2020 disputed presidential election and human rights violations, the agency said this week. The designations target Mikalai Karpiankou, deputy minister of internal affairs and a military commander, and Dzmitriy Balaba, commander of the Special Task Police Force of the Minsk City Executive Committee of Internal Affairs. The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on 100 Belarusian “regime officials” for “impeding the transition to democracy in Belarus.”
Congress should be taking steps to authorize more foreign military sales to Taiwan and speed up agency approvals for those exports, said Lara Crouch, a Republican staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Crouch, speaking during a Heritage Foundation event last week, said the committee will next month mark up the Taiwan Policy Act, which would include more foreign military financing for the island, authorize a war reserve stockpile for Taiwan and fast-track sales to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales Program.
The U.S. should transform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. into a new Commission on Foreign Investment and National Security, which would improve transparency and reduce uncertainty around investment reviews, Morgan Lewis lawyers said. Although the process of standing up a new government commission and issuing regulations may be “arduous and expensive,” the lawyers say the benefits will outweigh the costs.
Guillermo Christensen, former office managing partner at Ice Miller, has joined K&L Gates as a partner in the antitrust, competition and trade regulation practice, the firm announced. Christensen's practice centers on advising clients on matters involving economic sanctions, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and export controls. In the past, Christensen has also represented clients in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases, OFAC investigations and voluntary disclosures. Before becoming a lawyer, Christensen worked for the CIA for 15 years in various assignments, including in interagency roles with the Defense and State departments.