The State Department approved a potential military sale to Germany worth about $8.4 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said July 28. The sale includes 35 F-35 aircraft and related equipment. The principal contractors will be Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, Boeing and Raytheon Missiles and Defense.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), this time by one month, the two ports announced July 29. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until Aug. 26. The ports said they will "reassess fee implementation after monitoring data over the next month."
The State Department approved two potential military sales, to Singapore and Japan, worth nearly $1 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said July 25.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls changed how certain submitted forms are displayed in the Defense Export Control and Compliance System, the agency said in a notice this week. DDTC said submitted forms in the Registration, Commodity Jurisdiction and Advisory Opinion applications will be displayed as PDFs “as opposed to a webform view,” which will allow DDTC to “store the request exactly as it was submitted, and the form will remain unaffected by any future policy changes or system updates.” Questions should be directed to the DDTC Help Desk.
Although President Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump's China tariffs on the campaign trail, Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Fellow Chad Bown said he always thought it was unlikely Biden would roll any of them back, because there are "huge political costs" to doing so, because opponents could label you as "weak on China."
The State Department sent a final rule for interagency review July 25 that will make certain corrections and clarifications to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule was mentioned in the agency’s spring regulatory agenda (see 2207050015).
The State Department’s new open general license concept is a “major step forward” in improving defense trade between the U.S. and the U.K., Canada and Australia, Steptoe said in a July alert. The firm also said the new licenses, announced earlier this month as an upcoming pilot program (see 2207200005 and 2207190008), are “indicative of a trend” within the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the broader government “of looking for ways to facilitate defense trade and investment with allies and partners.” The licenses, which will be valid Aug. 1 through July 31, 2023, will authorize certain retransfers and reexports to various parties, entities and people in the three countries.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is seeking feedback from its members on the recently implemented Ocean Shipping Reform Act. In a July 25 email to members, the group asked for questions, experiences and concerns with OSRA, including how “your operations are being impacted” by the new measures. Members should send their input to mmontgomery@ncbfaa.org. OSRA was signed into law in June (see 2206160064) and already has resulted in a new Federal Maritime Commision complaint submission process for certain carrier charges (see 2207150031).
The U.S. should take steps to reduce domestic and global red tape around shipping, which could save companies billions of dollars in export costs and cut shipping delays, Third Way said in a report this week. The think tank specifically called on the U.S. to work with trading partners to simplify border processes, embrace digitization and simplify procedures for the release of goods.
The Bureau of Industry and Security extended by 30 days the comment period for an information collection on the agency’s surveys and assessments of U.S. industrial sectors and technologies (see 2204010008). The survey data will allow BIS to assess “industry performance” and gain insight into “diminishing manufacturing capabilities.”