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 April 29. 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 6.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that she and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala talked about how to "break the deadlock" on intellectual property issues at the WTO so that as many people as possible can get effective vaccines "as fast as possible." The readout, which said Deputy USTR and Chief of Mission, Geneva, Maria Pagan, and Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard were also in the meeting, said that Tai is continuing to engage with members of Congress and stakeholders. Congress is divided on the question of relaxing IP for coronavirus, with many Republicans saying a permissive trade-related intellectual property rights [TRIPS] waiver would undermine the medical research that brought vaccines to market in record time.
The Energy Department this week issued liquefied natural gas export permits for two LNG plants under development. The authorizations will allow Golden Pass LNG in Texas and Magnolia LNG in Louisiana to export an additional 0.5 billion cubic feet of LNG per day to any country “not prohibited by U.S. law or policy.”
The U.S. is looking into whether Chinese semiconductor manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. violated U.S. export controls by supplying chips to Huawei, the Financial Times reported April 27. The report said the Bureau of Industry and Security received a “credible” report by TechInsights, a semiconductor analysis firm, that Huawei is using YMTC memory chips in a new smartphone. The chips were reportedly made in February 2021, several months after the U.S. applied its foreign direct product rule to Huawei, which restricts its ability to import foreign-produced goods made with certain levels of U.S.-origin content or technology (see 2005150058).
The State Department approved a potential $165 million sale of military equipment to Ukraine, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said April 25. The sale includes “various rounds of non-standard ammunition.” The prime contractor hasn’t yet been selected.
The Federal Maritime Commission recently published an instructional video to help industry file shipping complaints. The video explains which processes are “most beneficial to achieving a complainant’s desired outcome,” including how members of the public can report information that may trigger an investigation or initiate formal civil litigation that can provide wronged parties with damages and restitution, the FMC said.
The Federal Maritime Commission finished its first round of meetings with carriers under its new export services audit effort (see 2203210026), the agency said April 22. The meetings -- part of an expansion of the FMC’s Vessel-Operating Common Carrier Audit Program to examine how shipping lines can best serve U.S. exporters -- have resulted in “invaluable” information so far, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said.
The State Department recently approved up to an additional $800 million in emergency military assistance to Ukraine, it said in a notice released April 25. The notice directs the drawdown of defense articles, services and military training from the Defense Department. The State Department said the aid could not have been met under the authority of the Arms Export Control Act or “any other provision of law.”
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 April 22. 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 April 29.
The State Department approved a potential $41 million sale of military equipment to Australia, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said April 19. The sale includes “Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio Systems” and related equipment. The principal contractors will be Viasat and Data Link Solutions.