The Bureau of Industry and Security and its technical advisory committees should do more public outreach to make sure companies are aware of important export control updates sometimes buried in Federal Register notices, a BIS committee heard last week. That outreach is especially critical for companies working with industrial chemical processing equipment, a committee member and industry lawyer said, which has commercial uses but is increasingly drawing BIS scrutiny for its military capabilities, including in chemical weapons.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China asked five large semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) firms Nov. 7 to provide data about their China sales, saying the information would help lawmakers better understand the “flow of SME” to the Asian country and its contribution to China’s “rapid buildout of its semiconductor manufacturing industrial base.”
The Treasury Department published a final rule in the Federal Register that will add 59 military bases to the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., setting the effective date for Dec. 9. The rule, released earlier this month, also will increase the scope of transactions CFIUS can examine for land purchases near eight other military bases, amend the definition for “military installation” and make other changes (see 2411040017 and 2407090003).
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., introduced a resolution last week urging the Biden administration to pause further transfers or sales of U.S.-made fighter jets to Turkey. Titus criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for making statements threatening Israel and supporting the terrorist group Hamas in its war on Israel. The measure was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The State Department formally notified Congress in January that it approved Turkey’s request to buy 40 new F-16s and modernize 79 existing ones for a total of $23 billion (see 2401290067).
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Nov. 6 he’s pleased the U.K. is reportedly preparing to reimpose sanctions on Iran for violating its nuclear weapons-related obligations. McCaul said the snapback of U.N. sanctions on Iran is "vital" now because the mechanism that authorizes them is set to expire.
Former President Donald Trump is projected to win reelection and Republicans took back control of the Senate, setting up a possible repeat of the first Trump-led government that frequently used export controls to counter China and didn’t hesitate to levy threats at traditional U.S. trading partners.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the Commerce Department Nov. 5 to investigate whether China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) violated U.S. export controls.
Maros Sefcovic of Slovakia, the EU’s candidate for trade and economic security commissioner, said this week he would “double down” on defending European industry against “increasingly widespread” unfair practices.
The Philippines opened a preliminary safeguard investigation on cement Oct. 31, it told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards on Nov. 4. The Philippines said interested parties should submit comments to the Bureau of Import Services within five days of Nov. 4.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, again urged the Biden administration to end delays that he said are slowing shipments of bombs and more than 10 other weapons sales to Israel.