The Federal Maritime Commission approved a confidential settlement between U.S. carrier Network Shipping and several produce importers and exporters, the agency said Feb. 20. The importers and exporters -- including Coast Citrus Distributors, which does business as Olympic Fruit & Vegetable; Amazon Produce Network; Refin Tropicals; JW Fresh; Sembríos De Exportación Sembriexport; and Bresson -- accused the carrier in August of failing to provide chassis for certain shipments, causing $2 million in damages and costs (see 2308070050).

The State Department approved the possible foreign military sale of "AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles" and related equipment to Italy for $69.3 million, the agency announced Feb. 15. The principal contractor will be RTX Corp.

The State Department has approved the possible foreign military sale of the small diameter bomb II and related equipment to Italy for $150 million, the department announced on Feb. 15. The principal contractor will be RTX Corporation.

The Treasury Department this week released its list of countries that require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. Listed are Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. The list is unchanged from the previous version (see 2308220067).

The Biden administration “strongly opposes” a House bill designed to counter its recent pause in pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports, the White House said in a statement on Feb. 13. The statement came the same day the House Rules Committee voted to send the bill to the full House for its consideration.

The Defense Department is “carefully reviewing” a recently released congressional report that proposes changes to speed up the Foreign Military Sales process, a DOD spokesperson said Feb. 12.

Upcoming know-your-customer rules for U.S. cloud service providers come with a new set of compliance risks, with providers potentially facing lability not just from the Commerce Department but also from U.S. sanctions authorities, Sidley Austin said in a client alert this month.

President Joe Biden issued a memorandum requiring the State Department to obtain written assurances that recipients of U.S. foreign military aid will use those weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The notifications cover licenses submitted from January through March, April through June and July through September, and include exports to Japan, Australia, Israel, Brazil, Canada, the U.K., Ukraine, Turkey, Norway, Germany and elsewhere.

The Pentagon stands by its decision last week to add Hesai Technology to its 1260H List of Chinese military companies, an agency spokesperson said.