Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security rules and procedures raise technology concerns, the department's Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting (see 2106090049) was told. The industry is especially concerned by BIS rules on military uses, said Tina Termei, an Amazon lawyer speaking on behalf of CompTIA members. The rules impose “unreasonable” obligations on companies that may not have the expertise and resources to do necessary due diligence, Termei said Tuesday. “Unlike the United States government that has these resources, that's not what these companies do,” Termei said: “They're not investigators, they are not experts on the complicated world of” military intelligence. She urged BIS to consider making its military end-user list “exhaustive”: “This way, everybody will have the same rule book, which means people and companies can actually follow it. They'll have the list, and they can comply.” Termei said CompTIA members complain about lengthy licensing times. Average license processing in FY 2020 was 23 days, a BIS spokesperson told us. "Each license application is evaluated on its own merits and decisions are made on the merits." Officials didn't comment Wednesday on the other tech concerns.

The U.S. and EU should stop squabbling over tech issues or risk having China or another authoritarian government step into the gap, speakers told a Tuesday Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar. High on President Joe Biden's agenda for the summit in Brussels next week is discussion of the relationship, including whether the EU should stop attacking America's tech sector and Biden should refrain from giving away too much to make amends to Europe for the previous administration's attitude, said ITI President Robert Atkinson. He accused Europe of deploying a range of tools to hobble U.S. tech giants, such as the Digital Services Act and limits on cross-border data flows, and urged Biden to aggressively defend America while seeking stronger trans-Atlantic ties. The EU and U.S. are at an uneven point, said Atlantic Council Distinguished Fellow Frances Burwell: Europe is active on these issues while it's unclear where Biden or Congress wants to go. The U.S. must pick its battles with the EU and be clear about what it wants, Burwell said. The summit is a great opportunity to reset the EU-U.S. relationship, said President Paul Hofheinz of think tank The Lisbon Council. There are two different forms of government in the world -- democracies and one-party states -- and no one is thinking hard enough about how to regulate the neutral technology that sits between them, he said. The discussion should focus on China, said Center for European Policy Analysis President Alina Polyakova. This year will be important for seeing where and who sets normalization rules for technology, she said. Creating a level playing field for European companies is a top priority for the EU, but that will come from stimulating innovation, not regulation, she said. The "big gorilla in the room" is the Digital Markets Act, which attacks U.S. companies, she said. She urged the EU to rethink its digital agenda, including Privacy Shield and the DMA, and both sides to cooperate more. They potentially can meet in some areas, such as on facial recognition technology and the need for a U.S. federal privacy law, said Hofheinz: "We need to talk to each other humbly, respectfully and honestly." One problem with the U.S. approach is that no official "owns" this issue, which is spread across various agencies, said Polyakova. On the other hand, Europe is more thoughtful, strategic and sophisticated about policy, said Atkinson.

Akin Gump lawyers for the Section 301 sample case plaintiffs, HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, asked the U.S. Court of International Trade to hear oral argument on the preliminary injunction they seek to freeze the liquidation of unliquidated customs entries from China with Lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure. “This unprecedented litigation concerns billions of dollars, over 3,800 separate lawsuits, and an even larger number of individual plaintiffs,” said Friday's motion (in Pacer). They filed for the injunction April 23 after the government refused to stipulate plaintiffs will be entitled to refunds of liquidated entries if they win the litigation and the court declares the tariffs unlawful (see 2104250002). DOJ opposes the injunction and stands by its refusal of the stipulation due to the “uncertainty” of the case law on refund relief (see 2105160001).

Google will pay 220 million euros ($268 million) and change how its advertising services work, under a settlement with the French Competition Authority, said the agency Monday. This arose from complaints from News Corp., Le Figaro1 group and Rossel La Voix group about Google's DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad service and AdX listing platform. The authority said Google abused its dominant market position by giving preferential treatment to proprietary technologies offered under the Ad Manager brand with regard to the operation of the DFP ad server -- which allows publishers of websites and mobile applications to sell advertising space -- and sell-side platform (SSP) AdX, which organizes auctions by which publishers sell ads. Google penalized its rivals on the SSP market and publishers hard-hit by falling newspaper subscriptions and drop in associated revenue, the FCA said. The decision is the first in the world "to look into complex algorithmic auctions processes through which online display advertising works," said FCA President Isabelle de Silva. Google didn't dispute the facts and offered commitments the authority accepted, including giving publishers better access to data on ad space auctions and making Ad Manager more flexible by letting publishers mix and match technology platforms, blogged Google France Legal Director Maria Gomri. Modifications will be tested in coming months before being rolled out more broadly, including globally, she said.

President Joe Biden will meet in Brussels this week with European Commission officials to discuss how the U.S. and Europe “can work in close coordination on global challenges,” wrote the president Saturday in a Washington Post opinion piece. “We will focus on ensuring that market democracies, not China or anyone else, write the 21st-century rules around trade and technology,” said Biden. "Will the democratic alliances and institutions that shaped so much of the last century prove their capacity against modern-day threats and adversaries? I believe the answer is yes." A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson shot back Monday that “pursuing bloc politics and small cliques targeting a certain country with ideology as the yardstick and practicing fake, selective multilateralism are moves against the trend of the times that will garner no support and get nowhere.” The U.S. should “stop playing up the ‘China threat’ narrative, and do more things that are conducive to promoting bilateral mutual trust and cooperation and world peace and stability,” said the spokesperson. The White House didn’t respond to questions.

China is “firmly opposed” to the executive order President Joe Biden signed Thursday, bolstering prohibitions on U.S. investments in China’s military-industrial complex, said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Friday. “The U.S. government uses the catch-all concept of national security and abuses state power to suppress and restrict Chinese enterprises in all possible means,” he said. Presidential EOs have “harmed not only the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also the interests of global investors, including U.S. investors,” said the spokesperson. The White House didn’t comment. Biden’s EO prohibits U.S. “persons” from trading in the securities of 59 Chinese entities, effective Aug. 2 at 12:01 a.m. EDT.

Belkin International added its name Thursday to the massive Section 301 litigation at the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking to vacate the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs and get the duties refunded on allegations the tariffs are unlawful under the 1974 Trade Act and 1946 Administrative Procedure Act. Foxconn-owned Belkin imports 69 categories of consumer tech accessories and other goods from China with List 3 tariff exposure and 26 categories with exposure to List 4, said its complaint (in Pacer). Belkin joins the growing list of cases being stayed without assignment to the court’s three-judge panel presiding over the HMTX-Jasco sample 301 case under the April 28 administrative order signed by Chief Judge Mark Barnett (see 2104290002). Akin Gump attorneys for HMTX-Jasco also represent Belkin.

Vizio is staying in “close contact" with shippers and U.S. port authorities "to continuously assess the situation and our views are informed by the information they provide,” Chief Financial Officer Adam Townsend told us Wednesday. We had asked when Vizio expects an easing of the ports congestion that impeded shipments of its smart TVs from reaching many of their distribution hubs in the first quarter. Vizio expects continued delays to “move some units out of the first half of the year and into the back half,” Townsend told investors May 11 (see report, May 12 issue). Vizio's Q1 smart TV shipments increased 28% year over year to 1.5 million sets despite ports disruptions.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative concluded its one-year Section 301 investigation into the digital services tax policies of Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey and U.K. by imposing and immediately suspending remedial tariffs against those countries, said the agency Wednesday. Putting the tariffs on hold for up to 180 days will give more time to complete the ongoing multilateral negotiations on international taxation at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and through the G20 process, it said. The U.S. “remains committed to reaching a consensus on international tax issues through the OECD and G20 processes,” said USTR Katherine Tai. “Today’s actions provide time for those negotiations to continue to make progress while maintaining the option of imposing tariffs under Section 301 if warranted in the future.” DSTs "undercut significant activity in multilateral negotiations and further fragment the international tax system,” said Information Technology Industry Council CEO Jason Oxman. ITI encourages all governments to "quickly withdraw" DSTs "and double down on their work to realize a multilateral, consensus-based agreement" through the OECD and G20, he said. The Computer & Communications Industry Association “welcomes USTR’s actions in the Section 301 investigations that show the continued commitment of the U.S. to the ongoing negotiations, while making clear that tariffs remain an option if discriminatory taxes continue,” said Policy Counsel Rachael Stelly.

Strong consumer electronics demand contributed to Costco’s 38.2% e-commerce sales increase for fiscal Q3 ended May 9, but port delays “are continuing to have an impact,” said Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti on a Thursday earnings call. “The turnaround of a container hitting the U.S., delivering its contents and being back at the U.S. port to head back overseas” has doubled to 50 days compared with a year ago, he said. “Chips shortages are impacting many items from an inflation standpoint, some items more than others,” said Galanti. “We continue to work to mitigate cost increases and supply chain delays in a variety of different ways,” mostly by “front-loading” orders of many items, he said. “The feeling is that this will continue” at least for the rest of calendar 2021, he said. Galanti estimates about 70% of the warehouse club’s “big and bulky” items are now being delivered through the Costco Logistics trucking fleet, he said. “Some of it was being delivered by third parties that were doing fine, but now we're doing it ourselves,” he said. Costco Logistics “is continuing to grow very handily” in fulfillment of articles for the home, including big-screen TVs, he said. "We're seeing 30% and 50% increases on items within some of those categories."