The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking comment by Dec. 6 on Chinese government policies that influence international standards for emerging technologies, NIST said in Thursday's Federal Register in docket 211026-0219. The agency will use the comments to determine whether it can “mitigate any undue influence” by China and “bolster United States public and private sector participation in international standards-setting bodies” for a range of new technologies, including AI and blockchain. China's embassy didn't reply to our request for a response.

China Telecom Americas “is making all necessary preparations" to comply with the FCC's order revoking its domestic and international authorities under Communications Act Section 214 (see 2110260060) said a letter posted Wednesday in docket 20-109. But the company disputed a statement in a Tuesday FCC news release that it said would upset consumers, “We request that the FCC refrain from making any statements to consumers that may imply that their service will be disconnected or stop working unless they take some immediate action to select a new provider,” the company said: “Some customers may choose to seek a new provider even if they are not required to do so, but it would be misleading and disruptive to suggest that customers have no choice but to act immediately.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee's release of export licensing information for Huawei and China chipmaker SMIC (see 2110220019) doesn't present an accurate picture, the Commerce Department said. The agency's Bureau of Industry and Security approved more than a combined $100 billion worth of export licenses for shipments to Huawei and SMIC from November 2020 through April. Some pending applications were in BIS' “intent to deny” process and weren't part of the figures. That those denials weren’t included “risks politicizing the licensing process, discouraging good faith industry actors from participating in the licensing process, misrepresenting the thoughtful, evidence-based national security determinations made by BIS and other national security agencies,” a Commerce spokesperson said Friday, “and even undercutting U.S. technology leadership.” Huawei and SMIC didn't comment Monday.

The Bureau of Industry and Security approved $100 billion-plus worth of export licenses for shipments to Huawei and top Chinese chipmaker SMIC Nov. 9 through April 20, per documents released Thursday by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. BIS said it approved 113 licenses for Huawei -- about 70% of applications received -- for more than $61 billion worth of goods. The agency greenlit 188 licenses for SMIC -- about 90% -- for more than $41 billion. BIS denied two applications for Huawei and returned 48 without action during that period. It denied one for SMIC and returned 17. The companies are on the BIS parent agency's Commerce Department entity list.

The U.S. won't impose Section 301 tariffs on goods from Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K. over digital services taxes, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. Those markets settled with the Treasury Department about the transition from DSTs to a new approach for taxing multinational firms, USTR said. Tariffs on goods from India and Turkey, which weren't party to the settlement, remain suspended through early December, USTR said. Ending the tariffs on the five countries drew tech industry hopes for a rollback everywhere. “While today’s transitional agreement is a meaningful step, it is imperative that all governments urgently and fully withdraw their digital services tax measures,” said Information Technology Industry Council CEO Jason Oxman Thursday. The Computer & Communications Industry Association said it backs a "broader multilateral global tax agreement."

The testimony of Nicholas Burns, President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to China, at his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday, smacked of a “Cold War zero-sum mentality” that Beijing rejects, said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Thursday. “We oppose defining China-U.S. ties as competitive,” the spokesperson said. “Even when there is competition between the two sides in such pragmatic areas as economy and trade, it is healthy competition.” The U.S. will "compete vigorously" with China "where we should, including on jobs and the economy, critical infrastructure, and emerging technologies," Burns said. Washington must hold Beijing “accountable for failing to play by the rules on trade and investment, including its thefts of intellectual property, use of state subsidies, dumping of goods, and unfair labor practices,” he said.

The National Retail Federation and member companies will meet with senior U.S. and EU officials this week to discuss operational and legal challenges involved with protecting consumer and employee information in trans-Atlantic data flows, the NRF said Wednesday. “Retail is global, and retailers want to be sure consumer and employee data is properly protected when transferred from Europe to the U.S.,” said Senior Policy Counsel Paul Martino. NRF and Brussels-based EuroCommerce were due to hold their fifth annual joint meeting virtually with senior officials of the European Commission and the European Data Protection Board Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, NRF and U.S. retailers will meet virtually with officials and staff from the U.S. Mission to the European Union and the Commerce Department, it said. Meetings will build on work begun last year after the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield was invalidated by EU’s highest court (see 2007300028).

Taiwanese OEM Innolux launched its case against Customs and Border Protection’s classification of its shipments of HP 25-inch monitors, in a complaint Friday at the U.S. Court of International Trade. The case was originally filed in 2013 but placed on the reserve calendar with several extensions. CBP classified the goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 5828.59.3050 subheading for monitors without TV tuners, dutiable at 5%. Innolux argued they should have been classified under the duty-free HTS 8528.51.0000 for monitors used solely in automatic data processing systems, but CBP denied that, sparking the litigation. "The HP set up guide that accompanied the sale of the subject HP PC monitors explains how to connect this model to an ADP system (PC) only," Innolux said. "It does not explain or show how this monitor may be used or configured with any other system or device."

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S.-based telecom company $1.87 million for illegally exporting goods to Vietnam, BIS said in a Tuesday order. California-based VTA Telecom, a subsidiary of a Vietnamese state-owned telecom company, allegedly included false statements in its export applications to conceal defense end uses for the exports, BIS said. It said it will suspend about $200,000 of the penalty if VTA completes a two-year probationary period outlined in a settlement agreement with BIS, or if it dissolves its business. VTA agreed to spend $25,000 to improve its “ongoing” export compliance efforts and hire a trade compliance director for two years. If VTA doesn’t pay the fine or violates the agreement, BIS may deny the company export privileges. VTA Telecom couldn’t be reached for comment.

Retail imports remain high, but there’s no telling how much the congestion at U.S. ports is denting the volume of incoming goods, reported the National Retail Federation Thursday. “The cargo is there for larger gains at several ports but congestion issues are impacting fluid operations,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy. “Ships will eventually get unloaded but the pressure is on for everyone to work together to get the containers out as quickly as possible.” U.S. ports handled 2.27 million 20-foot cargo containers or their equivalents in August, said NRF. That was up 3.5% from July and 7.8% higher than a year earlier and tied March as the second-busiest month since NRF began tracking imports in 2002. The congestion and disruption come in the middle of the peak season for shipping “when retailers stock up on holiday merchandise each year, but many retailers began bringing in holiday goods this summer to be sure sufficient inventory will be available.”