The U.S. and the European Union should be able to “come to a convergence” on seven planks of reform of the appellate body at the World Trade Organization, said Ignacio Garcia Bercero, European Union Visiting Fellow, Oxford University and a chief negotiator at the European Commission. Garcia Bercero, who noted he was not speaking on behalf of the European Commission, was a panelist on a WTO Reform webinar hosted by the Washington International Trade Association July 23.

U.S. lawmakers are seeking ways to fund a bill that would support the U.S. semiconductor industry amid rising technology competition with China. The bill (see 2006110038), which would incentivize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and provide more federal support for research and development, includes provisions for refundable investment tax credits and $10 billion to match state incentives.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls saw a “significant uptick” in license requests from foreign companies after the agency issued guidance on U.S. people exporting defense services abroad, DDTC Director of Licensing Catherine Hamilton said. The agency also saw an increase in voluntary disclosures as foreign companies realized they may have violated regulations, Hamilton said.

It's not enough to just restrict sales of chips to Huawei, and convince allies not to use the Chinese company in their 5G networks, experts said at a Senate Banking Committee Economic Policy Subcommittee hearing on July 22. Rather, they testified, both 5G and export controls should be looked at more broadly. Martijn Rasser, senior fellow in the Center for a New American Security's Technology and National Security Program, said that 5G networks will be essential to all that the U.S. does in technology, so getting 5G right is urgent.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has begun a broad review of new export controls on surveillance technologies going to China, which may also include additions to the agency’s Entity List, Acting Commerce Undersecretary for Industry and Security Cordell Hull said. Hull called the review “comprehensive” and “in-depth,” saying it could lead to controls over advanced surveillance tools, artificial intelligence software and biometric technologies.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 13-17 in case you missed them.

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the U.K. was not “strong-armed” by the U.S. into recent actions against Beijing and Hong Kong, saying the U.K. shares many of the same policy goals as the U.S. But Raab did say recent U.S. restrictions against Huawei and Chinese officials have factored into U.K. policymaking.

The Commerce Department will add 11 China-based entities to its Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, a notice released July 20 said. Nine of the entities are involved in the forced labor of Muslim minority groups and two conduct “genetic analyses” to “further the repression” of the minorities, Commerce said. The additions take effect July 22.

The State Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda. The agenda includes a new mention of a final rule to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations due to changes made by multilateral export regimes. The rule would update the U.S. Munitions List and “corresponding parts of the ITAR” based on “related treaties” and export regimes, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, that have updated their export controls. The agency is aiming to issue the rule this month.

U.S. agencies are exploring ways to enforce industry compliance with mitigation agreements with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., despite travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a top Justice Department official said. The pandemic has specifically caused challenges around in-person site visits, which help enforcement agents ensure companies are adhering to CFIUS conditions for an approved investment, John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said.