The State Department approved potential military sales to the United Kingdom and Japan worth a combined $109 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Aug. 26. Under the proposed sales, the U.K. would get 395 “AGM-114R2 Hellfire missiles” worth about $46 million. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor. The sale to Japan includes 32 “AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles” at an estimated $63 million. Raytheon Missile Systems is the prime contractor.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will hold a webinar Sept. 9 on using the Defense Export Control Compliance System licensing application, DDTC said in an Aug. 27 notice, which includes login information. The webinar will outline best practices and tips for accessing licenses and include a question-and-answer session at the end. The DDTC previously released a recording of its February webinar (see 2002280028).
The Trump administration is granting $1 billion to create 12 new research and development institutes to study emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum information science. The funding -- announced by the White House, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy -- includes $140 million over five years to seven NSF-led research institutes at U.S. universities, the White House said Aug. 26. The Energy Department will grant up to $625 million over five years to five national laboratories for the QIS centers, with $300 million in funding for them coming from universities and the private sector.
The Commerce Department’s recent restrictions against Huawei could “create substantial uncertainty and disruption” for the semiconductor supply chain, leading to lost sales and an eroding customer base for U.S.-origin goods, a semiconductor manufacturing industry group said Aug. 24. Semi asked Commerce to extend the deadline for the savings clause in its Aug. 17 rule and review licenses for non-5G items with “significant flexibility.”
Registration and licensing applications for the State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System will be unavailable 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. EDT Aug. 24, an Aug. 20 notice said. The system will be down for scheduled maintenance, the State Department said, and users should save work in progress before the downtime commences.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a notice Aug. 19 to industry on payment methods in the Defense Export Control and Compliance System. New or renewal registrants must include the DDTC Account Number 1900000128 with their registration fee payment information when using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) debit payment method, DDTC said. The registrant “will experience a payment failure if the DDTC Account Number is not used,” the notice said.
An Aug. 20 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Agriculture and Department of Commerce virtual hearing on import competition in seasonal produce will include testimony from two Florida and three Georgia members of Congress, a representative of the office of a third Florida Congress member, Farm Bureau executives, and vegetable and berry farmers. It will also include trade groups and a company that oppose restrictions on Mexican produce, among them the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, the San Diego Customs Brokers Association, and milk and corn exporters. The hearing is the second of two that were originally scheduled to take place in Florida and Georgia in April.
The White House announced a one-year extension of a national emergency that authorizes U.S. export control regulations, according to an Aug. 13 notice. The move renewed the authority authorized in a 2001 executive order on the continuation of U.S. export controls. The emergency declaration was to expire Aug. 17, 2020.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to submitting declarations to the International Atomic Energy Agency for nuclear materials, according to a notice released Aug. 14. The IAEA requires information on “nuclear-related items” that may be used for “peaceful nuclear purposes” but also can be part of a nuclear weapons program, the notice said. The declarations provide the IAEA with information about “additional aspects of the U.S. commercial nuclear fuel cycle,” including nuclear equipment manufacturing and trade in nuclear-related goods. Comments are due Oct. 16.
The U.S. and Slovenia issued a joint statement Aug. 13 on strengthening 5G security and increasing reviews of foreign direct investments involving critical technologies. The countries will “encourage ... reliable and trustworthy” 5G software and hardware suppliers and favor a “rigorous evaluation of suppliers and supply chains.” Both countries also committed to scrutinize foreign direct investments in “critical communication infrastructure … through a dedicated screening mechanism.” The U.S., which recently expanded the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. jurisdiction to review transactions involving critical technologies (see 2005110008), has said it wants to encourage other countries to more heavily scrutinize Chinese investment (see 2002260042).