The Bureau of Industry and Security is proposing new unilateral export controls on four dual-use biological toxins that can be weaponized to kill people or animals, “degrade equipment” or damage the environment, the agency said in a rule released May 20. Controls would apply to the marine toxins brevetoxin, gonyautoxin, nodularin and palytoxin, BIS said, all of which can be “exploited for biological weapons purposes.” The agency said it won’t categorize the toxins or their technologies as emerging or foundational technologies, and doesn't plan to continue to differentiate between the two categories going forward.
Since the last World Trade Organization Committee on Customs Valuation meeting, Bolivia and Georgia have submitted new notifications about their customs legislation, the WTO announced. Relaying the details of the May 17 committee meeting, the WTO said members also reviewed notifications of national customs legislation. Bolivia's and Georgia's updated legislation was noticed in the committee's status of notifications of national legislation on customs valuations. The next committee meeting is Oct. 24.
Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson is still awaiting approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for its acquisition of American telecom company Vonage (see 2202180020) but is hopeful the deal will go through. The company hopes to complete the acquisition during the second quarter of this year, an Ericsson spokesperson said in a May 18 email. “We are fully committed to moving ahead to close the deal,” the spokesperson said.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman and top Republican on the committee sent a letter to the White House, arguing that Taiwan should be in the Indo Pacific Economic Framework, and asking for a briefing for both their committee and the Senate Finance Committee on whether it will be, what the U.S.'s economic engagement is with Taiwan, and whether the U.S. has economic goals that it is seeking with Taiwan. The May 18 letter, which also was signed by the Senate Finance Committee chairman and ranking member and 48 other senators, notes that there was $114 billion in two-way trade with Taiwan last year, and that Taiwan is a significant player in computers, telecommunications and electronics. "Excluding Taiwan from IPEF would significantly distort regional and global economic architecture, run counter to U.S. economic interests" and play into China's narrative about Taiwan, they said. China argues that Taiwan is not an independent country, and has punished countries that have given it diplomatic recognition.
The Federal Maritime Commission should require all ocean carriers and marine terminals to hire dedicated compliance officers, establish a clearer process for returning containers and launch a new investigation into carrier charges assessed through tariffs, Commissioner Rebecca Dye said. Dye, delivering a new set of recommendations during a May 18 FMC meeting, also said the commission should create a carrier-focused advisory committee and do more to support U.S. agricultural exports.
The U.S. is preparing to ease some sanctions against Venezuela to encourage negotiations between the Nicolas Maduro regime and the U.S.-backed opposition party led by Juan Guaido, a senior administration official said. The official, speaking to reporters during a May 17 phone call, said the Guaido-led opposition party requested that the U.S. ease its sanctions pressure so the two sides can resume talks.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering several major changes to its administrative enforcement authorities, including publicizing its charging letters before cases are resolved and increasing penalty amounts for export violations. The agency may also limit its use of no admit/no deny settlements, which allow companies to avoid admitting explicit wrongdoing.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she supports including an outbound investment screening provision in the final version of Congress’ China competition bill (see 2202030062), and said more guardrails are needed to stop China from finding technology transfer loopholes. While Raimondo didn’t explicitly endorse the bipartisan National Critical Capabilities Defense Act, which would create a committee to review outbound investments, she said the U.S. could use more regulatory power.
The U.S. should take steps to address a range of loopholes in its export control regimes, including its inability to conduct end-use checks in China and unregulated technology transfers resulting from outbound investments, said Nazak Nikakhtar, former acting head of the Bureau of Industry and Security. “We have a lot of gaping holes in our export control system,” Nikakhtar told the Senate Intelligence Committee May 11. “I think we really need to tighten those up.”
Companies should expect the Commerce Department to add more entities to the Entity List for aiding Russia amid its war in Ukraine, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration. Commerce has so far added more than 100 entities to the list for supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries (see 2204040006). Kendler, speaking during a May 12 Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting, said the agency is looking at entities in both Russia and Belarus "that may be contributing to the military industrial complex."