The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued General License No. 15, related to Syria, to authorize transactions in connection with intellectual property rights protection that would otherwise be prohibited by Executive Order 13582 of August 17, 2011 (Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to Syria). Specifically, the General License authorizes (1) the filing and prosecution of any application for, (2) the receipt of, (3) the renewal or maintenance of, (4) and the filing and prosecution of (or entry of defense to) any opposition or infringement proceeding with respect to: any patent, trademark, copyright, or other form of intellectual property protection in the United States or Syria.

The Bureau of Industry and Security states that it has renewed for 180 days its Temporary Denial Order against Mahan Airways of Iran, Zarand Aviation, Gatewick LLC, Pejman Mahmood Kosarayanifard, Mahmoud Amini, Kerman Aviation, Sirjanco Trading, Ali Eslamian, and related parties.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective February 24, 2012, which amends Supplement No. 7 to Part 748 of the Export Administration Regulations to revise the existing Authorization Validated End-User listings for GE India Industrial Pvt Ltd.; Applied Materials (China), Inc.; Boeing Tianjin Composites Co. Ltd.; CSMC Technologies Corporation; Lam Research Corporation; and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

The International Trade Administration announced on February 23, 2012 that U.S. merchandise exports increased $202 billion to a record $1.48 trillion from 2010 to 2011, driven by a $43 billion increase in exports from Texas. Thirty-six states experienced double-digit merchandise export growth in 2011; 23 states exceeded the national average of 16 percent growth for merchandise exports. Altogether, U.S. merchandise exports increased 16 percent over the previous year, which puts the U.S. on track to meet the President’s National Export Initiative (NEI) goals of doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014.

The International Trade Administration announced that President Obama appointed two new private sector members to the President’s Export Council on February, 17, 2012. The two new members are Dr. Gary W. Loveman of Caesars Palace and Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup Company. See ITA press release here.

The State Department has sent a final rule to the Office of Management and Budget entitled: "International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Implementing the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty Between the United States and Australia and the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty Between the US and UK."

On February 16, 2012, the Office of Foreign Assets Control added one entity to its "Specially Designated Nationals" list. SDNs are (i) individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries or (ii) individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific. The assets of listed SDNs are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has announced a series of "reverse" trade missions to the U.S. and worldwide conferences and workshops which link U.S. businesses with foreign buyers.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a February 15, 2012 updated list of all currently authorized Carrier Service Providers, Travel Service Providers, and Remittance Forwarders for Cuba.

Export.gov has announced the following series of domestic trade shows that are scheduled for March - December 2012.