Zendesk, a U.S.-based software-as-a-service provider, said it received U.S. approval regarding its acquisition by an investor group led by investment firms Permira in the U.K. and Hellman & Friedman, headquartered in California. The company had submitted a voluntary notice to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and received “written notice” from CFIUS Nov. 17 that it “had concluded its review and cleared the transaction,” Zendesk said in a Nov. 17 SEC filing. The company expects the acquisition to be completed Nov. 22.
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service last week published an interactive data tool to help American exporters gain a clearer picture of certain export statistics. The tool shows the percentage of production exported by country and commodity for each year dating back to 1960.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week published a final rule that made various corrections to its regulations, including the restoration of a general export license that it had “incorrectly” removed in 2010. The general license allows exports of uranium from the U.S. “enriched to less than 20 percent in U-235, in the form of UF6 heels in cylinders being returned to suppliers” in member countries of the European Atomic Energy Community or the U.K., DLA Piper said in a client alert. The law firm noted that other forms of uranium materials and related technology are controlled by the Commerce Department’s Export Administration Regulations or the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The NRC’s rule takes effect Dec 14.
The Census Bureau is seeking public comments on an information collection related to its Automated Export System, the agency said in a notice. The information collection notes that Census is “making remedial changes” to the Foreign Trade Regulations to “improve clarity of the reporting requirements and to correct errors.” Comments on the collection are due Jan. 20.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has “incomplete data” on whether certain foreign students pose technology transfer risks from U.S. schools to foreign entities, the Government Accountability Office said in a report this week. Although ICE has data on the number of graduate students, including from China, who pose tech transfer risks, the agency focuses its resources on “other priorities” and hasn’t looked to improve its data, which may be leading to information gaps about whether certain students have access to sensitive technology, GAO said. “Completing the assessment and improving student employment data could strengthen U.S. government efforts to identify and assess technology transfer risk.”
Simon Lester, president of China Trade Monitor and WorldTradeLaw.net, said he doesn't expect any large changes in the Biden administration's trade policy following the midterm elections. In a blog post Nov. 15, Lester wrote that while the administration could look at the election results as not provoking too much of a backlash to its trade policy, it's more likely that the election cycle was favorable to Democrats, due to the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision and "terrible" GOP candidates.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection related to voluntary disclosures for violations of the Export Administration Regulations. Comments on the information collection are due Jan. 17.
Days after President Joe Biden said the U.S. may investigate billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter for national security reasons, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she sees “no basis” for doing so, CBS reported Nov. 15. Yellen told CBS that she wasn’t “sure precisely what [the president] had in mind, but we are -- we have really no basis -- to the best of my knowledge -- to examine his finances of his company. I'm not aware of concerns that would cause us” to investigate. Yellen’s comments came less than a month after Bloomberg reported that the administration was weighing whether it should subject the deal to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (see 2210210018).
The State Department approved a potential $700 million military sale to Switzerland, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Nov. 15. The sale includes “PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC) 3 Missile Segment Enhanced (MSE) missiles” and related equipment. The prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin.
The State Department sent a final rule for interagency review Nov. 15 to further reorganize the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule would reorganize ITAR part 120 to consolidate all definitions into one part and “organize the definitions in a manner that enhances their clarity and ease of use,” the agency said. The agency's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls in March issued the first in a series of rules expected to reorganize the ITAR (see 2203220013).