Considerations surrounding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. “should be baked into deal planning as early as possible,” especially as CFIUS scrutiny on Chinese investments is “not expected to ease any time soon,” Kilpatrick Townsend said in a June client alert. The firm said compliance officers whose company is pondering foreign investment from China need “to involve your regulatory teams as soon as possible” so the company can “identify the challenges likely to surface during the CFIUS process.”

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and her staff "have been working tirelessly" with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to help the two sides come to a labor deal, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNBC June 8. Seroka said the Labor Department is talking with both sides "to keep this progress moving" after some West Coast ports experienced disruptions during the last week from work stoppages caused by the labor negotiations (see 2306050077 and 2306060077).

The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection involving its “simple network application process” and “multipurpose application form.” The process and form allows exporters to submit license applications, commodity classification requests, encryption review requests and other “notifications” to BIS. Comments are due Aug. 11.

Countries in the Five Eyes Alliance, plus Japan, have issued a joint declaration on non-market practices and trade related economic coercion that they say "undermine the functioning of and confidence in the rules-based multilateral trading system by distorting trade, investment, and competition and harming relations between countries."

Major shipping line Maersk is mulling whether to appeal a recent order by the Federal Maritime Commission that fined its subsidiary, Hamburg Sud, nearly $10 million for violating the Shipping Act’s anti-retaliation provision and refusing to fulfill contract terms (see 2306080062), a spokesperson said. “We are reviewing the decision and considering next steps,” the person said in a June 9 email.

Marine terminal operator APS East Coast (Amports) engaged in "a series of schemes and efforts to unlawfully restrict stevedoring services" and charged $1.2 million in "baseless" fees, Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) and Marine Terminals Corporation-East (MTCE), said in a June 2 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. PAC and MTCE, which provide stevedoring services in Baltimore, also accused Amports of subjecting them to "prejudicial treatment" compared with other stevedores "without legitimate transportation justifications," interfering with their stevedoring business and contracts and "unreasonably refusing to deal" with them.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold its annual update conference Nov. 28-30 in Washington, the agency announced this week. The conference will be in-person only and will feature keynote speakers, plenaries, breakout sessions and live question-and-answer periods with BIS and other agency officials. "Specific details and agenda to come," BIS said.

Trade groups this week called on the Biden administration to intervene in labor negotiations between dockworkers and West Coast marine terminals, saying a prolonged breakdown in talks could lead to severe port disruptions (see 2306050077).

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asked the International Trade Commission to produce a report on the greenhouse gas emissions in the domestic steel and aluminum sectors, "which will help to inform discussions with the European Union regarding the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum."

Major West Coast ports have experienced recent disruptions as dockworkers and marine terminals continue to negotiate over a labor deal (see 2303270032).