The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. approved a $30 million investment by Hanwha Systems, a South Korean defense technology company, into Kymeta, a U.S. satellite communications company, Kymeta announced May 26. Kymeta said CFIUS’ approval “clears the way” for the two companies to close on the transaction, which will help Kymeta’s “global market reach, accelerate production, and improve the overall growth trajectory of the company.” The companies announced the transaction in December.
Steptoe & Johnson launched its "Supply Chain University" -- a series of short of videos discussing the various complexities around supply chains, the firm said in a May 28 blog post. In the series, partner Jeff Weiss interviews industry and legal professionals along with academics to discuss supply chain topics such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and explore how supply chain issues overlap with nearly every industry.
Georgetown University researchers released a report this week on the Chinese government’s strategy to acquire foreign technology, including its efforts to monitor foreign countries’ technological “breakthroughs” and identify investment opportunities for Chinese firms. The report details the responsibilities of China’s “science and technology diplomats,” who are stationed at embassies around the world to help Chinese firms “more easily gain access to technologies abroad.” The report, written by Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, examines which technologies China is targeting, where the country focuses most of its efforts and whether the strategy has proved successful.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will hold a June 8 webinar on defense service agreements, the agency announced May 27. Officials from DDTC’s information technology modernization team and licensing division will answer common questions on submitting agreement requests to DDTC and explain the submission process in the Defense Export Control and Compliance System. There will also be a question-and-answer period.
President Joe Biden on May 26 officially announced nominations to fill two senior Treasury Department positions that oversee sanctions (see 2104300068). Biden nominates attorney Brian Nelson to be undersecretary of the Terrorism and Financial Intelligence office, which oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control. He also nominates Treasury adviser Elizabeth Rosenberg for assistant secretary of terrorist financing.
The State Department plans to revise its defense trade policies, due to concerns about the ongoing crisis and human rights violations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the agency said May 23. While the State Department has already “imposed wide-ranging restrictions on economic and security assistance to Ethiopia,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the agency will also “bring our defense trade control policy in line with” those restrictions. Blinken also announced visa restrictions against current and former Ethiopian government and military officials.
The State Department approved a $110 million military sale to Spain, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said May 24. The sale includes follow-on contractor logistics support for “MQ-9A Blk 5” aircraft and related equipment. The prime contractor will be General Atomics.
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.
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.