The State Department approved a potential $340.8 million military sale to Romania for “AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Missiles” and related equipment, the Defense Security Agency said May 14. The principal contractor will be RTX Corp.

PKDC, a Colorado-based furniture distributor, accused ocean carrier CMA CGM of refusing to meet its commitments to the distributor, coercing "extracontractual" payments from PKDC, and charging detention and demurrage for situations outside the distributor's control. The furniture distributor, in a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission dated May 10, said it paid over $1 million in unreasonable detention and demurrage and that CMA CGM cost it over $12 million by refusing to meet its quantity commitments under the service contract.

International Express Trucking (IXT) accused COSCO Shipping Lines of charging unfair per diem charges during times when there was a chassis shortage, port congestion or a lack of return appointments, the motor carrier said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission. In the complaint, dated May 7, IXT said COSCO from 2022 to 2023 charged the motor carrier $75,725 in per diem charges and didn't include relevant information, such as ports of discharge or the date the container had been made available, in the charges.

The State Department approved a potential $30 million military sale to Ukraine, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said May 10. The sale includes “High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems” and related logistics and program support, and the sale will from U.S. Army inventory.

Two provisions in a February final rule (see 2402230049) from the Federal Maritime Commission -- which set requirements for the information that will soon need to be reported in demurrage and detention invoices -- will take effect along with the rest of the final rule May 28, the commission said in a notice released this week. The FMC had been awaiting approval from the Office of Management and Budget for an information collection request "associated" with those two provisions, and the commission said it received that approval April 16. Those two provisions are: 46 CFR 541.6 and 541.99.

While the U.S. should look to counter China with export controls, tariffs and outbound investment restrictions, it also needs to better incentivize trading partners to diversify their supply chains away from China, the Atlantic Council said this week.

The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy this week issued a new policy framework and implementation guidance for the oversight of certain dual use research and pathogens that can be used to cause a pandemic. The policy, which the White House said will take effect one year after its May 6 release date, is meant to “strengthen oversight of life sciences research with biological agents and toxins” by defining a broader scope of research subject to “additional oversight” by the government; outlining the roles and responsibilities of research institutions, federal agencies and others that conduct, fund or oversee this research, and more. The White House said agencies have until the effective date to “update, modernize, or promulgate applicable implementing guidance.”

TikTok asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit May 7 to overturn a recently enacted law that will ban the popular social media application in the United States if China’s ByteDance doesn't sell the app to an entity that isn’t controlled by a foreign adversary.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company denied allegations by the Federal Maritime Commission that it knowingly violated U.S. shipping laws, calling a proposed $63.2 million FMC penalty "excessive and unlawful.”

CMA CGM charged unfair detention and unfair chassis, storage, stop-off and redelivery fees, Access One Transport said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission March 1. The California-based motor carrier said CMA CGM violated the Shipping Act by charging unfair fees when the containers couldn't be returned due to lack of appointments, dual transactions and specific actions by CMA CGM and its terminals.