Seven Republican senators led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah introduced a bill this month aimed at countering the Commerce Department’s recent 90-day pause in issuing commercial firearms export licenses.
Marc Selinger
Marc Selinger, Assistant Editor, is the congressional reporter for Export Compliance Daily, which he joined in December 2023. He previously wrote for a variety of defense publications, highlights of which included covering the Paris and Farnborough (UK) air shows and touring the Israeli defense industry. His first full-time journalism job involved reporting on local government, schools and police news for a community newspaper in Michigan. He is on X at @marcselinger and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-selinger-315089173/.
A U.S. appeals court this month upheld the conviction and 57-month prison sentence of Florida business owner Peter Sotis for conspiring to and illegally attempting to ship export-controlled rebreather diving equipment to Libya.
Four lawmakers are urging the State Department to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials who offered bounties for the arrests of five Hong Kong pro-democracy activists living abroad, including two in the United States.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is urging the Commerce Department to block exports of chip design software to China’s Brite Semiconductor, which reportedly offers chip design services to six Chinese military suppliers (see 2312130020).
U.S. Steel Corp. and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp., which recently agreed to a merger, plan to ask the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review their proposed deal, U.S. Steel said on Dec. 21.
At least seven Democratic and Republican lawmakers are urging the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to oppose or scrutinize the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp., saying the $14.9 billion deal raises serious economic and national security concerns.
A group of 15 House and Senate members wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Dec. 18 asking whether the Department of Defense played a role in approving the export of U.S. technology to Chinese drone manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations (DJI).
Four Republican leaders of the House Financial Services Committee on Dec. 18 urged the Biden administration to impose “comprehensive energy sanctions” on Russia, saying the existing price cap on Russian oil sales has failed to choke off revenue that Moscow uses to fund its war in Ukraine.
Five Republican senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to re-designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, citing the Yemen-based group’s recent attacks in the region.
If U.S. policymakers become tempted to use sanctions to prevent a potential conflict with China, they should expect to face a wide range of challenges in wielding such economic tools, speakers said at a Dec. 15 event hosted by the Center for a New American Security.