The State Department approved a potential $39 million sale of defense items to Ukraine, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in an Oct. 3 press release. The sale includes 150 Javelin missiles and 10 Javelin command launch units, the press release said. The prime contactor is Washington-based Raytheon Company.

The Congressional Research Service issued an Oct. 3 report detailing how the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act regulations will reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. The report explains the new powers FIRRMA grants CFIUS, what changes are proposed, potential issues the regulations may pose for Congress, and how FIRRMA impacts reporting procedures and export controls. The Treasury Department released the proposed FIRRMA regulations in September, and comments are due Oct. 17 (see 1909180018).

Uncertainty over trade policy and African swine fever continue to overtake agricultural markets, causing “volatility across the industry,” CoBank said in its quarterly U.S. rural economic review, released this month. But there were two bright spots for U.S. exporters, CoBank said: the renewed Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products and the initial trade agreement between the U.S. and Japan, which will allow the U.S. ag industry to regain competitiveness in a “key export destination.”

The trade dispute between the European Union and Indonesia could allow U.S. dairy exporters to capture more market access in Indonesia, the International Dairy Foods Association said in an Oct. 1 press release. The dispute, which includes EU import tariffs on Indonesian biodiesel and is expected to include Indonesian retaliatory tariffs on EU dairy products, comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture leads a dairy industry delegation to Jakarta, the IDFA said. The delegation is aiming to “strengthen bonds” with Indonesian dairy importers, the press release said, and “could be an opportunity for U.S. dairy exporters to grow market share.”

The Trump administration is continuing the President’s Export Council until Sept. 30, 2021, the White House said Sept. 27. The council, a federal advisory committee -- which usually meets twice a year, according to the Federal Advisory Committee database -- did not meet in fiscal year 2018.

The State Department is seeking public comments on the paperwork burden relating to a notice of proposed information collection on certain technology security/clearance plans, screening records and non-disclosure agreements required by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Comments are due Oct. 30.

The State Department appears to have inadvertently removed an incentive for companies to voluntarily disclose export control violations, according to a Sept. 25 post by Winston & Strawn, pointing to a recent settlement between the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and L3 Harris Technologies.

The Directorate of Defense Control’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System will be unavailable Sept. 28 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT for system updates and maintenance, the DDTC said Sept. 25. Users will not be able to submit Advisory Opinion or Commodity Jurisdiction requests during the outage. DDTC said the time window for the maintenance may change. Questions or concerns should be directed to the DDTC Help Desk at (202) 663-2838 or dtradehelpdesk@state.gov.

U.S. exporters reported sales of 581,000 metric tons of soybeans to China since Sept. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Sept. 25. The sales are for delivery during the 2019/2020 marketing year, which started Sept. 1. The sales report came as China said it would begin buying U.S. agricultural products, including pork and soybeans, in response to President Donald Trump’s two-week postponement of tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this month (see 1909120046).

Gilbert Kaplan, Commerce's undersecretary for international trade, resigned last week, a Commerce spokesperson said, declining to answer further questions. Kaplan's resignation came during an important week in trade negotiations with China as Chinese officials visited Washington to continue talks. Kaplan was confirmed to the role in 2018 after working as a trade lawyer with King & Spalding. The resignation was first reported by Bloomberg.