The U.S. wants to expand investigations into illegal firearms trafficking and better hold traffickers accountable as part of an effort to curb illegal gun exports to Mexico, the White House said in a fact sheet this week. As part of that effort, DOJ is using new criminal authorities in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, enacted last year, which makes it a federal crime to “act as straw purchaser of firearms intended for unlawful use.” The White House also stressed the importance of CBP’s anti-smuggling operations at ports of entry along the southwest border, including its “numerous robust outbound operations.” ICE and Homeland Security Investigations have seized nearly 1,000 guns and gun parts and more than 125,000 rounds of ammunition so far this fiscal year.
The State Department approved a potential $48.2 million military sale to Spain, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said June 14. The sale includes “M982A1 Excalibur tactical projectiles” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Raytheon.
The State Department approved two potential military sales, to Kuwait and France, worth nearly $2 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said June 13. The sale to Kuwait includes $1.8 billion worth of contractor engineering technical services and contractor maintenance services, and the principal contractors will be Sigmatech; Kay and Associates; Kellogg Brown, and Root; L3 Technologies; Boeing; General Electric; Industrial Financial Services; and Lockheed Martin. The sale to France includes $160 million worth of “E-2C Hawkeye sustainment items and services,” and the principal contractor will be Northrop Grumman.
Considerations surrounding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. “should be baked into deal planning as early as possible,” especially as CFIUS scrutiny on Chinese investments is “not expected to ease any time soon,” Kilpatrick Townsend said in a June client alert. The firm said compliance officers whose company is pondering foreign investment from China need “to involve your regulatory teams as soon as possible” so the company can “identify the challenges likely to surface during the CFIUS process.”
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and her staff "have been working tirelessly" with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to help the two sides come to a labor deal, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNBC June 8. Seroka said the Labor Department is talking with both sides "to keep this progress moving" after some West Coast ports experienced disruptions during the last week from work stoppages caused by the labor negotiations (see 2306050077 and 2306060077).
Major shipping line Maersk is mulling whether to appeal a recent order by the Federal Maritime Commission that fined its subsidiary, Hamburg Sud, nearly $10 million for violating the Shipping Act’s anti-retaliation provision and refusing to fulfill contract terms (see 2306080062), a spokesperson said. “We are reviewing the decision and considering next steps,” the person said in a June 9 email.
Countries in the Five Eyes Alliance, plus Japan, have issued a joint declaration on non-market practices and trade related economic coercion that they say "undermine the functioning of and confidence in the rules-based multilateral trading system by distorting trade, investment, and competition and harming relations between countries."
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection involving its “simple network application process” and “multipurpose application form.” The process and form allows exporters to submit license applications, commodity classification requests, encryption review requests and other “notifications” to BIS. Comments are due Aug. 11.
Marine terminal operator APS East Coast (Amports) engaged in "a series of schemes and efforts to unlawfully restrict stevedoring services" and charged $1.2 million in "baseless" fees, Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) and Marine Terminals Corporation-East (MTCE), said in a June 2 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. PAC and MTCE, which provide stevedoring services in Baltimore, also accused Amports of subjecting them to "prejudicial treatment" compared with other stevedores "without legitimate transportation justifications," interfering with their stevedoring business and contracts and "unreasonably refusing to deal" with them.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold its annual update conference Nov. 28-30 in Washington, the agency announced this week. The conference will be in-person only and will feature keynote speakers, plenaries, breakout sessions and live question-and-answer periods with BIS and other agency officials. "Specific details and agenda to come," BIS said.