Several important authorities that the Bureau of Industry and Security has under the Defense Production Act will expire in September 2025 if the DPA isn't reauthorized, a BIS official said May 8.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged President Joe Biden this week to reject his administration’s proposal to waive sanctions to allow French company Électricité de France (EDF) to work with Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom.

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Ted Budd, R-N.C., urged President Joe Biden to resume sending ammunition to Israel after he reportedly suspended the shipments.

A bipartisan group of more than 50 lawmakers urged USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service last week to protect U.S. poultry exports from what they consider unwarranted trade restrictions.

A bipartisan group of four House members introduced a bill last week they said would close an export control loophole that has allowed China to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely.

Republicans are proposing to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act, saying the 2021 law has overburdened small businesses.

The Federal Maritime Commission has been encouraging carriers to have a better relationship and more transparency with shippers, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said during a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on April 30. Maffei said that this issue stems from the lack of transparency surrounding the Red Sea-related surcharges imposed by carriers due to Houthi attacks on commercial ships (see 2401290052).

Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Jared Golden, D-Maine, introduced a bill May 1 that would require the State Department to review and consider terminating Qatar’s status as a major non-NATO ally. Their proposal is companion legislation to a bill that three Republicans introduced in the Senate last month, citing Qatar's hosting of Hamas leaders (see 2404100064).

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, called on the Biden administration April 30 to revoke its new arms transfer policy, saying it duplicates human rights safeguards in existing law.

Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., introduced a bill last week that would expand the list of sanctionable offenses for human rights violations against Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region. The added offenses would include forced sterilization, forced abortions, forced organ harvesting and seeking the forced deportations of Uyghurs from third countries. The proposed Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act would also authorize secondary sanctions on business and government entities that aid human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced a similar bill last year (see 2305310024).