U.S. companies that sell defense products or services to foreign countries or entities must report all offsets agreements greater than $5 million to the Bureau of Industry and Security by June 15, the agency said in a May 25 notice. Companies also must report information on offsets transactions completed “in performance of existing offsets commitments for which offsets credit” of $250,000 or more “has been claimed from the foreign representative,” the notice said. Commerce is asking for reports of offsets agreements that took place during the 2020 calendar year.
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The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week posted presentation materials from its May 20 Defense Trade Advisory Group meeting (see 2105200061 and 2105210015). The materials include export control-related recommendations from DTAG working groups and general topics of concern from members.
The U.S. and South Korea hosted a roundtable with business leaders from both countries to stress the importance of “significant cross-border investments” and supply chain resilience, the Commerce Department said in a May 23 news release. During the May 21 roundtable -- which included Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and South Korea's President Moon Jae-In and Trade Minister Moon Sung Wook -- South Korean companies announced plans to invest $17 billion in semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., the release said. The two sides also committed to collaborate on “international standards development,” an area where China has sought to lead in several advanced technology sectors (see 2103160047). Companies at the roundtable included Samsung, Hyundai, Qualcomm and General Motors.
The State Department again determined Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba are not “cooperating fully” with U.S. antiterrorism efforts, a notice published May 25 said. Under the Arms Export Control Act, no defense article or defense service may be sold or licensed for export to a foreign country that is determined not to be cooperating, unless a waiver is granted.
The Census Bureau published a blog post on its Global Market Finder (GMF) and other agency tools and services designed to assist exporters. The GMF, an “interactive data visualization tool,” can help exporters expand to other markets by showing the types of commodities imported by other countries and their unit price, Census said in the May 18 post. The agency also encouraged exporters to use its USA Trade Online tool, which provides “current and cumulative” data on exports and imports.
The State Department approved a $165 million military sale to Greece, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said May 19. The sale includes technical and logistics support services for Greece’s air force. There are no principal contractors.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service launched its revamped website this week to provide industry with a “better user experience,” the agency said in an email. The site is “optimized” for mobile devices and modern web browsers, and includes a “robust” calendar function to highlight agency events, application deadlines, agricultural report releases for exporters and other “timely happenings.”
A U.S. commercial space company announced that it received a draft national security agreement (NSA) from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which details requirements and conditions it must meet before CFIUS approves its transaction. The company, Momentus Inc., said it voluntarily notified CFIUS of its proposed business combination with Stable Road Acquisition Corp. but must resolve CFIUS’s “national security concerns” about Momentus’ foreign ownership and control, according to a May 14 news release.
Don Graves was sworn in last week as Commerce Department deputy secretary after being confirmed 89-7 by the Senate, adding another member to the leadership team that will oversee U.S. technology competition policy toward China. “We’re assembling a world-class team at the Commerce Department, and Don is a prime example of that,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a May 14 statement. “He has the knowhow, the passion, and the energy to help position American businesses and workers to out-compete and out-innovate for years to come.” Graves, who previously served as an economic policy adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden during the Obama administration, has said Commerce needs to do more to help U.S. exporters access new foreign markets (see 2101080052).
The U.S. plans to ship 20 million does of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines overseas by the end of June, President Joe Biden announced May 17. The U.S. previously announced it would share doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine internationally, but the next rollout will represent the first authorized exports of U.S.-approved vaccines to the rest of the world, Biden said. “We'll share these vaccines in the service of ending the pandemic everywhere,” he said. “And we will not use our vaccines to secure favors from other countries.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the shipments will be the “most doses donated by any country in the world.”