The State Department will hold a closed meeting of its International Security Advisory Board next month to discuss various national defense and foreign policy issues. Topics for the Oct. 18 meeting include arms control, nonproliferation and “national security aspects of emerging technologies,” the agency said.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by one month a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Sept. 23. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but postponed it each week until July 29, when the ports announced their first one-month postponement (see 2207290053). The latest one-month extension delays the effective date until Oct. 21.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on the potential market impact of the proposed FY 2024 National Defense Stockpile Annual Materials Plan, BIS said in a Sept. 23 notice. Comments will help inform the government of the “projected domestic and foreign economic effects of all acquisitions, conversions, and disposals involving the National Defense Stockpile,” BIS said. Comments are due Oct. 24.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report this week on the risks from the potential “widespread adoption” of LOGINK, China’s global logistics management platform. The report said LOGINK, also known as China’s National Transportation and Logistics Public Information Platform, works with more than 20 global ports and could provide the Chinese government with a range of critical data on “shipping information, cargo valuations via customs clearance forms, and destination and routing information.”
The Federal Maritime Commission this week issued a notice that seeks public comments on the set of factors it should consider when determining whether an ocean carrier is violating shipping regulations by refusing vessel space to shippers. The FMC also seeks comments on how it should define “unreasonable” conduct by ocean carriers, specifically their “unreasonable refusal to deal or negotiate with respect to vessel space accommodation.” Comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking, which the FMC previewed last week (see 2209130040), are due Oct. 21.
The State Department on Sept. 17 sent a final rule for interagency review to expand the types of defense items and services that can be exported under defense trade treaties with Australia and the U.K. and under the agency’s Canadian exemptions. The rule will also make “clarifying amendments and conforming updates” to U.S. Munitions List categories IV and XII, including for certain “night vision entries.”
U.S. rail companies and union negotiators this week agreed to avoid a labor strike that would have caused “catastrophic impacts on industries, travelers and families across the country,” the Department of Labor said Sept. 15. The two sides agreed to forego the strike, which was scheduled to begin at midnight Sept. 16, after 20 consecutive hours of negotiations, the agency said. The “tentative” deal for rail workers “balances the needs of workers, businesses and our nation’s economy.”
U.S.-based Snapdragon Chemistry, a drug services company, said China-based pharmaceutical firm Asymchem won't acquire it after the companies failed to receive approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. The two companies, which first announced the acquisition in February, were “unable to agree to mitigation terms that would satisfy” CFIUS, Snapdragon said this month. “We are disappointed this deal was unable to be completed," Snapdragon CEO Matthew Bio said. "The goal of the deal was to expand domestic manufacturing capacity and be able to deliver a full range of drug development services to our clients.”
The State Department completed an interagency review for a final rule that would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule, sent for review Sept. 6 (see 2209120001) and completed Sept. 14, would make changes to “prohibited exports, imports, and sales to or from certain countries.”
U.S. goods exports to China this year are on pace with the low export numbers from 2021, although energy exports have dropped 13% and semiconductor exports continue to suffer, the Peterson Institute for International Economics said this week. And even though agricultural exports to China are up 16% this year, Chinese purchases of U.S. goods are still falling well short of commitments made under the Trump administration’s phase one trade deal, PIIE said. “The promise” of President Donald Trump's “trade war and agreement was that things should have been much better for US exporters by now.”