Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his upcoming meeting with Chinese officials to outline U.S. concerns over Chinese human rights abuses and illegal trade practices, Blinken told lawmakers March 10. The March 18 meeting in Alaska, which was announced March 10, will include National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese foreign affairs officials Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi. “This is an important opportunity for us to lay out in very frank terms the many concerns that we have with Beijing's actions and behavior that are challenging the security, prosperity and the values of the United States and our partners and allies,” Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The aerospace and satellite industry urged the Commerce Department to maintain staffing levels at the Office of Space Commerce until a new director is named, citing the office’s key role in aiding the U.S. aerospace industry. The office creates a “‘one-stop’ Commerce entry point” for connecting industry to other agency activities that directly affect aerospace companies, including export controls, the Aerospace Industry Association, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the Satellite Industry Association said in a March 9 letter. The groups specifically highlighted the importance of the office’s work to connect industry to Commerce efforts to place controls on “imagery analysis software” and promote trade. “[T]he space industry requires a strong U.S. Office of Space Commerce to drive continued growth here and abroad for U.S. space industry,” the groups said. Commerce didn’t comment.
The Port of Los Angeles launched a digital tool to allow traders to access truck capacity information and track cargo, which should help shippers and cargo owners better “predict and plan” cargo flows. The “Control Tower” data tool, launched Feb. 24, provides traders “snapshots” of truck turn times at the port’s terminals and “recent and future trending volume data,” the port said. Updates throughout the year will add more features. Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said the tool will help “get critical and reliable information to San Pedro Bay port stakeholders so that they can improve decision making and efficiencies.” The port is among many that have struggled to relieve container congestion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a rise in detention and demurrage fees (see 2102090028).
Apple last week introduced a new ethics and compliance webpage, featuring a detailed outline of its trade compliance policies surrounding export controls and sanctions. A table of all Apple products provides their respective Export Control Classification Numbers and which destinations are blocked from receiving Apple products. The company said all its products qualify as mass market products and are subject to the Export Administration Regulations but are not controlled as dual-use goods by the Wassenaar Arrangement. Apple said some of its goods may be eligible for the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Iranian General License No. D1 and Bureau of Industry and Security license exceptions related to Cuba. OFAC fined Apple about $465,000 in November 2019 after the company hosted, sold and helped transfer software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company (see 1911250064).
The Commerce Department on Feb. 26 announced three new staffing appointments to the Bureau of Industry and Security. Steven Emme, a former Akin Gump trade counsel, was named chief of staff; Sahar Hafeez, a former Pillsbury Winthrop trade lawyer, was named senior adviser to the BIS undersecretary; and Feras Sleiman, a former policy adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was named BIS's congressional affairs specialist.
U.S. trade representative nominee Katherine Tai said that despite the president's prioritizing of the domestic economy, “I don't expect, if confirmed, to be put on the back burner at all.” Tai, a veteran of the House Ways and Means Committee trade staff, faced largely friendly questioning over a more-than-three-hour hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 25.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Feb. 24 to address supply chain shortages of semiconductor chips, personal protective equipment, medicine and other critical goods. The order calls for a 100-day review of U.S. supply chains to pinpoint “vulnerabilities” impacting a range of goods, including certain pharmaceutical products, critical minerals such as rare earths, semiconductors and large-capacity batteries. The order also calls for a one-year review that will examine issues in a broader set of U.S. supply chains, including those impacting the defense industrial base, the public health base, the information and communications technology sector base, the energy sector industrial base, the transportation industrial base and the agricultural sector.
The Senate on Feb. 23 voted 78-20 to confirm Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. During a January confirmation hearing, Thomas-Greenfield said she supports sanctions against China for human rights violations, vowed to counter China’s takeover of leadership positions at international standards-setting bodies, and said she will support U.S. arms sales to Taiwan (see 2101270053).
A broad coalition of trade associations including representatives from the semiconductor manufacturing industry wrote a letter Feb. 18 to President Joe Biden urging him to back the funding for the crucial technology authorized in the CHIPS for America Act in the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The letter made the groups' case for greater funding for semiconductors and called for an investment tax credit in the upcoming infrastructure and economic recovery proposal. Notable signatories to the letter include the National Association of Manufacturers, SEMI and the Semiconductor Industry Association, as well as the Information Technology Industry Council and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
The State Department approved a potential military sale to Finland worth about $91.2 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Feb. 17. The sale includes “Extended Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems” and related equipment. The principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin Corporation, Missile and Fire Control.