The Biden administration launched a task force to investigate how U.S. and Western parts, including microelectronics, are being found in Iranian-made drones used by Russia in violation of export controls, CNN reported Dec. 21. The task force includes the Defense, State, Justice, Commerce and Treasury departments, the report said, with one official calling it an “all hands on deck” initiative. Efforts around the task force have recently “intensified” as the U.S. has received intelligence that the Kremlin is looking to open a drone production factory as part of a deal with Iran, the report said. Iran already has begun transferring blueprints for the drones to Russia to aid with the production, the report said. The White House didn’t comment.
The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, bought arms from North Korea to use in its war in Ukraine, Reuters reported last week. The report came the same day the Commerce Department announced new, stricter license requirements for exports to the Wagner Group, which were designed to limit the company’s ability to buy weapons for the Russian government (see 2212210080).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on the impact of the Chemical Weapons Convention on commercial activities during 2022, BIS said in a notice. The agency is specifically looking for feedback on how activities involving Schedule 1 chemicals were affected to determine whether CWC decisions "harmed" the “legitimate commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms” this year. Comments are due Jan. 23.
USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are accepting applications for new members to sit on agricultural trade advisory committees, the agencies said this week. Applications are being accepted for six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees -- covering animals, fruits and vegetables, grains and more -- as well as the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee, which advises the administration on the implementation and enforcement of trade agreements and trade policy. Members serve four-year terms without compensation. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Jan.31.
Hong Kong-based Sterling Container Line violated U.S. shipping regulations when it refused to pay Florida-based SeaFair USA for its “document turnover” services for shipments carried under Sterling’s house bills of lading, SeaFair said in a Dec. 15 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. SeaFair said Sterling owes it more than $400,000 and asked the FMC to order Sterling to pay reparations and “cease and desist” from their “unlawful conduct.”
As World Trade Organization members continue to struggle to decide how to change the trade-related intellectual property waiver conditions, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asked the International Trade Commission to produce a study on how the global market for vaccines, diagnostics and treatment has been affected by the current approach on intellectual property. The USTR said stakeholders and members of Congress disagree, "even on basic questions around whether there is adequate global supply of diagnostics and therapeutics. These interested parties also diverge on whether extending these flexibilities to diagnostics and therapeutics would in fact improve access, particularly in non-high-income countries, or undermine innovation."
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will close its Response Team and Help Desk Dec. 26 due to the federal Christmas holiday, the agency said in a notice this week. Both will reopen 8 a.m. Dec. 27. “Due to the closure and depending on volume of inquires received, responses may be delayed through the following week,” DDTC said. “The processing of classified provisos for delivery may also be delayed.”
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports will end a program that could have eventually imposed surcharges on dwelling containers, the ports announced Dec. 16. The fee program was meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), but the ports never implemented it and instead postponed it weekly (see 2207220051) and later monthly (see 2211180061) since it was first announced in October 2021 (see 2207290053).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments by Jan. 30 that identify policies or practices that would put a country on the intellectual property watch list, it said in a Federal Register notice. It is not planning a public hearing, so commenters will be asked to respond to written questions from administration officials.
The Federal Maritime Commission has begun a probe to examine how top shipping lines are complying with new restrictions on retaliation, the commission said this week. The FMC’s Vessel-Operating Common Carrier Audit Team has asked the top 20 shipping lines calling the U.S. to provide information on how they are complying with Section 5 of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which prohibits carriers, marine terminals or ocean transportation intermediaries from retaliating against shippers by refusing them cargo space. The shipping lines have until mid-January to provide a response, the FMC said.