The U.S. and Slovenia issued a joint statement Aug. 13 on strengthening 5G security and increasing reviews of foreign direct investments involving critical technologies. The countries will “encourage ... reliable and trustworthy” 5G software and hardware suppliers and favor a “rigorous evaluation of suppliers and supply chains.” Both countries also committed to scrutinize foreign direct investments in “critical communication infrastructure … through a dedicated screening mechanism.” The U.S., which recently expanded the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. jurisdiction to review transactions involving critical technologies (see 2005110008), has said it wants to encourage other countries to more heavily scrutinize Chinese investment (see 2002260042).
The Chinese government is placing more of an emphasis on infiltrating U.S. companies and universities to steal export controlled technologies, said John Demers, the U.S. assistant attorney general for national security. China has increasingly turned to its intelligence agencies, such as the Ministry of State Security, to embed officials in U.S. institutions, Demers said.
As Canadians consider which of 68 aluminum-containing products to put on a tariff retaliation list, U.S. industrial producers and buyers of aluminum reacted with dismay to the news that a large segment of Canadian aluminum imports will face a 10% tariff starting Aug. 16.
The U.S. on Aug. 7 sanctioned 11 top Hong Kong officials and police leaders for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy. The designations, which came after Congress passed several bills targeting Beijing’s interference in Hong Kong (see 2007020046 and 1911290012), were the first sanctions imposed under President Donald Trump’s July executive order on Hong Kong normalization (see 2007150019).
The Treasury Department released its annual report to Congress for 2019 last month on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., outlining CFIUS statistics, key judgments and an overview of transactions reviewed by the committee. CFIUS said 231 notices were filed last year, roughly the same number of notices filed in 2017 and 2018, which were 237 and 229, respectively. CFIUS took an average of 45 days to complete a review of covered transactions and 85 days to complete an investigation in 2019, the report said. The report also notes a drop in investigations -- CFIUS conducted 113 investigations in 2019 after conducting 158 in 2018 and 172 in 2017.
A State Department spokesperson criticized accusations levied this week by House and Senate Democratic leaders over the administration’s 2019 emergency military sales to Gulf states, saying the agency has been transparent during a congressional probe of the sales. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D.-N.J., subpoenaed four State Department officials Aug. 3 over what they say was an improper use of emergency powers to expedite arms sales (see 2008030046), adding that the agency was “stonewalling” their investigation.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the technical fixes to USMCA need to be done, and he hopes a technical fixes bill can pass the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would allow refunds of merchandise processing fees in post-entry reconciliation (see 2007070056) and may also change treatment of foreign-trade zones, a change that those zones say is not a technical fix at all, but a policy change (see 2007200021).
The United Nations Security Council Committee on resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia issued an Aug. 3 guidance on export controls for components of improvised explosive devices shipped to Somalia. The guidance contains a list of items subject to the controls and mandatory notification requirements for exporters. The committee report also called on member states to conduct due diligence on exports to Somalia, keep records of transactions and share information with the committee on “suspicious purchases.”
Democratic and Republican senators called on the State Department to do more to pressure the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela, saying the U.S.’s approach, which they called ineffective, should include more multilateral support and stronger sanctions against Maduro’s allies. Several senators said they would back legislation to grant the administration more sanctions powers.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold a virtual export control policy conference Sept. 2, covering updates on export control regulations, license exceptions, semiconductor controls and the Entity List. The conference will include a question-and-answer session with BIS officials and “other agency experts,” and will feature updates from the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, sanctions policy and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. BIS canceled its in-person annual conference earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2005210051).