The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin accepting applications for relief payments from fishing industries impacted by Chinese retaliatory tariffs, USDA said in a notice released Sept. 9. The application period will run from Sept. 14 through Dec. 14 and will provide aid to “eligible U.S. commercial fishermen” that have suffered from a “loss of exports.” The USDA is also seeking comments on the notice, which details who is eligible for the payments and outlines the application process. Comments are due Nov. 13. The notice stems from a June order from President Donald Trump directing the administration to study the impacts of Chinese tariffs on U.S. seafood exports, including lobster (see 2006260012).
The State Department approved potential military sales to France and Spain worth nearly $600 million combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Sept. 2. Under the proposed sales, France would get four AE-2100D Turbo Prop engines and two “Multifunctional, Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminal Block Upgrade Two” worth about $350 million. Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, General Electric Aviation System, Raytheon and Viasat are the principal contractors. The sale to Spain includes 100 “IM-120C-7/8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles” and related equipment for $248.5 million. Raytheon Missiles and Defense is the prime contractor.
Hiring for positions that involve export controls requires a careful balancing act of adhering to export control and anti-discrimination laws, Sheppard Mullin said in a blog post. “Anti-discrimination laws prohibit unlawful citizenship status restrictions when hiring, and U.S. export controls prohibit disclosing controlled information to foreign nationals without authorization,” lawyers at the firm said. Together, these laws “limit acceptable job descriptions and hiring practices.” The lawyers pointed to a recent Justice Department settlement (see 2007280016) with a law firm and a staffing company as demonstrative of the issues involved. Job postings that require export control authorization shouldn't restrict applicants to only U.S. citizens or other similar requirements, it said. A more cautious job posting would include something to the effect of “candidate has capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws,” it said.
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. did not finance any dual-use exports during the 2019 fiscal year and financed only one such export the previous year, the Government Accountability Office reported Aug. 27. The GAO noted that the Ex-Im Bank successfully monitored the end use of the lone dual-use export during the 2018 fiscal year, which included two satellites for the Mexican government. The bank “received all documents” from Mexico on time and determined the Mexican government was “in compliance with the bank’s dual-use policy.”
The Defense Department on Aug. 28 released another list of Chinese companies with ties to the country’s military, potentially requiring increased due diligence measures for U.S. companies doing business with them. The list includes companies on the Commerce Department’s Entity List and others not yet subject to U.S. restrictions. The entities may also fall under the scope of an April Commerce rule that increased licensing requirements for exports to military end-users or for end-uses in China (see 2004270027). The Defense Department issued a similar list in June (see 2006250024).
The Treasury Department is seeking comments on an information collection related to foreign investment reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a notice released Aug. 28 said. The collection notes that Treasury recently introduced a new case management system to allow CFIUS filers to submit certain information online (see 2005180029). As of June 1, its use is now mandatory. Comments are due Sept. 30.
U.S. exporters of pet food may benefit due to a significant increase in demand in East Asia, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Aug. 25. USDA specifically pointed to China, which has seen a “significant rise” in household pets and removal of some trade barriers for imports of pet food as part of the phase one trade deal, “paving the way for a substantial increase in sales.” The USDA said exports of U.S. pet food to China from January through June increased 124% compared with the same period last year. The decreased trade restrictions “may present a unique opportunity to increase U.S. market share in the Chinese pet food market,” the USDA said.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began review of a proposed rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security related to its Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) license exception. The rule, which OIRA received Aug. 27, will clarify the “availability” and expand restrictions on availability of the license exception under the Export Administration Regulations.
The State Department approved potential military sales to the United Kingdom and Japan worth a combined $109 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Aug. 26. Under the proposed sales, the U.K. would get 395 “AGM-114R2 Hellfire missiles” worth about $46 million. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor. The sale to Japan includes 32 “AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles” at an estimated $63 million. Raytheon Missile Systems is the prime contractor.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will hold a webinar Sept. 9 on using the Defense Export Control Compliance System licensing application, DDTC said in an Aug. 27 notice, which includes login information. The webinar will outline best practices and tips for accessing licenses and include a question-and-answer session at the end. The DDTC previously released a recording of its February webinar (see 2002280028).