The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is accepting applications for voluntary members to serve on several advisory committees and subcommittees, the bank said July 6. Open positions are available on the Ex-Im 2021-2022 Advisory Committee and the 2021-2022 Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee, and on the Advisory Committee's subcommittees Chair’s Council on Climate and Chair’s Council on China Competition. Members will advise Ex-Im on providing competitive export financing to U.S. industries. Applications are due July 30.

A leading semiconductor industry group and a technology foundation are seeking feedback on challenges facing the semiconductor industry as the U.S. government prepares to provide funding and innovation incentives to help chip companies better compete with China (see 2106100028). SEMI and Mitre Engenuity said they want to make sure the government funding is “spent wisely” and “put to optimal use.” Information shared through their survey will be reported publicly in “non-identifiable form.” The survey closes July 20.

U.S. soybean exports reached record levels during the first quarter of 2021, grossing the second-highest value ever at $7.7 billion, which was nearly double the value of 2020’s first quarter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said June 29. USDA attributed the increase to record export volumes and high prices that have been “climbing steadily” over the last year. Volumes also rose because of the “rebound of trade” with China after the removal of certain retaliatory tariffs and the rebuilding of swine herds in the aftermath of the African swine fever. USDA said U.S. soybean exporters should be poised for an “excellent year.”

The State Department approved a $445 million military sale to Kuwait, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said July 1. The sale includes “Heavy Tactical Vehicles” with support and related equipment. The principal contractor will be Oshkosh Defense LLC and the subcontractors will be Fontaine Trailers and Etnyre.

Total volumes of medium and long-term (MLT) export credit support fell across the world last year, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. said in its 2020 competitiveness report released June 30. Ex-Im said it authorized $1.8 billion in MLT credit financing for U.S. exports in 2020, far behind China’s $18 billion in financing, which led all countries. James Cruse, Ex-Im’s acting vice president, said the bank “showed resilience” during the pandemic. “EXIM is on the pathway back to being a leader in export credit,” he said, “and providing the nature and scale of official MLT export credit needed to give U.S. exporters and U.S. interests a fair shot at trade opportunities in the years ahead.”

U.S. exporters of feed additives, premixes and compound feed to China should contact FDA by July 16 to register their facilities with China’s customs agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a June 29 report. The FDA will submit an updated list of U.S. facilities to China’s General Administration of Customs on a quarterly basis, which is required under the U.S.-China phase one trade deal. Exporters must email FDA at CVMChinaAnnex@fda.hhs.gov with company information, including a permission statement and individual facility data.

The U.S. government needs better data collection on trade, industries and technologies if it wants to develop more effective policies to spur competitiveness and a national technology strategy, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a July 1 report. ITIF said the government has “never felt the need” to gather “strategic economic intelligence” to evaluate its trade competitiveness, which should be a key aspect of any technology strategy. The foundation specifically said the U.S. needs more accurate trade data, especially on exports, which are “too often” listed “by the port of exit rather than the location of the firm doing the exporting.” That data should include information on more than just “final goods exports,” such as the inputs that are “feeding into the exports” and where those goods are produced. This would allow the U.S. to better map supply chains that “feed into exports.”

The U.S. and Australia will begin negotiating a bilateral Technology Safeguards Agreement to better allow industry cooperation and exchange of sensitive technologies and data, Australia’s foreign affairs ministry said July 1. The TSA will “set out principles under which U.S. companies can collaborate with Australian firms” in the civil space sector and transfer various technologies. Christian Porter, Australia’s minister for industry, science and technology, said the TSA will help “protect the movement of sensitive technologies and goods with one of our closest allies.”

The State Department plans to renew the charter for its International Security Advisory Board, which advises the agency on arms control, nonproliferation, emerging technologies and other national security issues, the State Department said in a notice. The board includes national security experts with scientific, military, diplomatic and political backgrounds. Although it usually meets quarterly, it didn’t convene in 2018, 2019 and 2020 due to a “review of its status” by the Trump administration. The State Department will renew the board for two years.

U.S. technology exports declined by about 5% last year to $335 billion, ending a streak of three consecutive years of growth, according to a June 30 report from the Computing Technology Industry Association. The drop in exports was partly caused by the “severity” of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the technology industry “held up relatively well,” CompTIA said, and technology exports “were steady” for most of the year. Technology products ranked third among the U.S.’s top manufactured goods exports, behind chemicals and transportation vehicles.