The State Department last week approved up to $100 million in additional emergency military assistance to Ukraine. The move will authorize the U.S.’s 10th drawdown of defense articles, services and military training from DOD, the State Department said, bringing total U.S. military assistance to Ukraine to about $3.9 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by a week a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced May 20. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until May 27.
A federal government payment website, Pay.gov, will undergo “critical maintenance activity” from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT May 21 and may be unavailable to users, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said. DDTC said the outage will affect users paying registration fees during that window. Questions or concerns should be directed to Pay.gov customer support at 800-624-1373 or pay.gov.clev@clev.frb.org.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The January through March notices feature arms sales to numerous countries, including South Korea, Qatar, India, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson is still awaiting approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for its acquisition of American telecom company Vonage (see 2202180020) but is hopeful the deal will go through. The company hopes to complete the acquisition during the second quarter of this year, an Ericsson spokesperson said in a May 18 email. “We are fully committed to moving ahead to close the deal,” the spokesperson said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will launch an updated licensing application this summer in the Defense Export Control and Compliance System, the agency said in a notice last week. DDTC is updating the application to work in a new software platform, “providing greater flexibility, security and administration of the application to the support team,” the agency said. The update is a “significant step in DDTC’s effort to continuously modernize the DECCS application suite.” DDTC will hold a webinar June 9 to discuss the update, including a demonstration of the application, an overview of how it affects DDTC partners and a timeline for its release.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by a week a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced May 13. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until May 20.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on May 13 opened registration for its annual export controls conference, with this year's theme of "Building a Network of Global Cooperation." The agency released information on the agenda, including what topics will be discussed. The conference will be held June 29 - July 1 in-person at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. Some portions of it also will be available virtually.
USDA is accepting applications from exporters for its upcoming trade mission in the Philippines, the agency said May 12. The July 18-21 trade mission will give U.S. agricultural exporters an opportunity to “explore a thriving market that is expected to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic with one of the strongest growth forecasts in Asia,” USDA said. The agency said strong export opportunities exist in the Philippines for beef, pork, poultry, cheese, fresh vegetables, alcohol, seafood products, tree nuts and more. Applications are due May 18.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week extended by a month a public comment period to allow more time for feedback on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council's Secure Supply Chains Working Group. BIS said it wants to allow commenters to “take into account any developments or announcements that may occur” during the TTC’s upcoming meeting in France May 15-16. Comments, originally due May 23 (see 2204050012), are now due by June 23.