The State Department approved three possible military sales to Egypt, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. One sale includes a $30 million “Precision Kill Weapon System” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be BAE Systems. Another includes $630 million worth of “Hellfire AGM-114R Missiles”; the principal contractor, Lockheed Martin. A third sale involves $4.69 billion worth of “Abrams Tank Refurbishment, Support, and Equipment, and related equipment”; the tank contractor, General Dynamics Land Systems.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said users may experience delayed responses from its Response Team and Help Desk when the government reopens after observing federal holidays over the next week. “Due to the closure and depending on volume of inquires received, responses may be delayed through the following week,” the agency said Dec. 24. “The processing of classified provisos for delivery may also be delayed.” The Response Team and Help desk will reopen Dec. 26 at 8 a.m. EST and Jan. 2 at 8 a.m. EST following the Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 federal holidays.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit stayed a nationwide injunction of the Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements on Dec. 23, temporarily lifting a recent federal court order that was set to block the rules from taking effect for most companies Jan. 1 (see 2412090065).

The State Department last week approved two possible military sales to Taiwan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. The first sale includes $30 million worth of “MK 75 76 mm Gun Mounts” and related equipment, which will come from U.S. stock. The second sale includes $265 million worth of “Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Modernization and related equipment,” the principal contractors for which haven’t yet been chosen.

The State Department approved a possible $130 million military sale to Norway, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Dec. 17. The sale includes a “M1156A1 Precision Guidance Kits Fuzes" and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.

The Pentagon this week removed two Chinese companies from its 1260H List, the list it uses to name firms that it says have ties to China’s military. The agency removed semiconductor company Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment and investment firm IDG Capital Partners Co., it said in a Federal Register notice Dec. 18. It didn’t give a reason for the delistings. Companies on the list face certain U.S. government contract restrictions.

The State Department approved a possible $300 million military sale to South Korea, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Dec. 16. The sale includes a “KDX-II Class Destroyers Product Improvement Program” and related elements of logistics and program support, and the principal contractors will include BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions, with others to be determined.

A possible rise in U.S. trade protectionism under the incoming Donald Trump administration could lead to several key “constraints” on the American economy, especially for exporters, said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

President Joe Biden called for the creation of a new task force to counter foreign economic coercion, which he said will help the U.S. better respond to coercive measures by “countries of concern,” including China.

The State Department approved possible military sales to Kuwait and to Ukraine, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Dec. 10. The Kuwait sale includes $300 million worth of equipment and services to refurbish "existing maintenance facilities," and the principal contractors will be BAE Systems, U.S. Ordnance, DRS Technologies, L3Harris Corp., Northrop Grumman and RTX. Ukraine will buy $266.4 million worth of "sustainment services" and related equipment for F-16s, and the principal contractors will be Sabena, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, and Pratt and Whitney.