U.S. computing chip manufacturers told a congressional panel this week that they’re increasing their scrutiny of products that have ended up in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, denied claims that President Joe Biden has been too soft on Iran, saying the Biden administration has imposed more sanctions on Iran than its predecessor.
The House approved several export control-related bills late Sept. 9, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely (see 2409040046).
U.S. computing chip manufacturers need to do more to stem the flow of their export-controlled products to Russia’s defense industrial base, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Sept. 10.
Four members of the House Financial Services Committee asked the Treasury Department last week for an update on the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan-based Nippon Steel, saying they’re concerned the Biden administration’s review of the deal may have been improperly influenced by politics.
Audrey Kim, a lawyer formerly working in the Treasury Department’s assistant general counsel office for international affairs, began a new role this month as a co-lead counsel for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., she announced on LinkedIn. Kim has been at Treasury since 2022.
President Joe Biden is planning to block Japan-based Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, a deal that has been under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., according to multiple reports. CFIUS appears to have concluded that national security concerns raised by the acquisition couldn’t be mitigated, the Washington Post reported Sept. 4. The White House has declined to comment but in a statement told the Post that CFIUS “had not yet transmitted its recommendation to the president,” the report said. Biden and multiple U.S. lawmakers have voiced opposition to the deal (see 2403150066 and 2405100026).
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., introduced a bill last week that would permanently add the agriculture secretary to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review agricultural transactions.
The House of Representatives plans to vote on several export control-related bills next week, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely.
Nazak Nikakhtar, acting head of the Bureau of Industry and Security during the Trump administration, blamed the deep state for a lack of urgency in confronting China, during a podcast interview with China Talk. Nikakhtar did not use that term, but said that it was hard for Commerce Department career officials to shift their thinking from promoting exports of goods to restricting exports or investment. Nikakhtar was previously a civil servant herself, working on antidumping and countervailing duty cases and negotiations with China.