The Bureau of Industry and Security this week extended its public comment periods for two recent information collections. BIS initially requested comments on each in November and is now extending the comment periods for 30 days. One information collection involves the procedure for entities on the Unverified List or Entity List to request removal or “modification” of their placement on either list (see 2211230010), and the other is related to voluntary disclosures for violations of the Export Administration Regulations (see 2211170010).
The State Department approved two potential military sales, to Bahrain and Kuwait, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said March 29. The sale to Bahrain includes $350 million worth of equipment and services to refurbish “Excess Defense Article (EDA) AH-1W multi-role helicopters,” and the principal contractor will be Bell Corp. The sale to Kuwait includes “additional Cartridge Actuated Device/Propellant Actuated Devices (CAD/PAD) and support,” part of a broader Foreign Military Sales program case valued at about $59.1 million. The principal contractors are currently unknown, "as there will be competitive contract solicitations after FMS case implementation," DSCA said.
The Biden administration should "quickly" help the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association reach a new labor agreement to "ensure there is no disruption" to the operations of U.S. ports on the West Coast, more than 200 trade groups wrote in a March 24 letter to the White House. Because Marty Walsh left as secretary of the Department of Labor in February, it's crucial that a "new administration point person" be designated to help negotiations continue, the groups said.
DOJ last week offered insight on what may constitute “extraordinary” cooperation under its recently revised corporate enforcement polices, but said it doesn’t plan to issue a more concrete definition. The agency can “never articulate, in advance, what exactly will or will not satisfy these provisions,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said, adding that each case is “different, and our prosecutors need flexibility and discretion to apply their judgment in the myriad scenarios that may be presented.”
The Commerce Department will hold a public webinar on the agency’s proposed “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding, which could restrict how recipients use the funding in certain countries and align the guardrails with export restrictions (see 2303210026 and 2303220010). The March 30 webinar will be hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Chips Program Office, which will “review the national security measures included in the Chips and Science Act and the additional details and definitions outlined in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.” Participants must register. The presentation recording and transcript will be posted on the Chips for America website after the event.
The Federal Maritime Commission is "actively seeking information" to confirm whether ocean carriers and marine terminal operators are complying with a recent ruling about per diem detention charges, the FMC said March 23.
The Commerce Department published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that seeks public comments on potential “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding. Comments on the rule, which would also align those funding restrictions with certain export controls, are due May 22. Commerce released the rule earlier this week (see 2303210026).
The U.S. filed its initial written submission March 20 in its second panel under the USMCA trade deal over Canada's dairy tariff-rate quotas, arguing that various elements of Canada's TRQ allocation system "remain fundamentally inconsistent with Canada's USMCA obligations," according to a copy of the submission posted by the International Economic Law and Policy blog.
The State Department approved a potential $268 million military sale to Greece, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said March 17. The sale includes “Assault Amphibious Vehicles” and related equipment. There is no principal contractor.
The State Department approved proposed military sales to Poland and Australia worth more than $1 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said March 16. The $150 million sale to Poland is for “AGM-114R2 Hellfire missiles” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin. The $895 million sale to Australia is for “Tomahawk Block V and Block IV All Up Rounds” and related equipment, and the prime U.S. contractor will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense.