President Joe Biden will nominate Matthew Axelrod, a former Justice Department official, to be the Commerce Department’s assistant secretary for export enforcement, the White House said Aug. 18. The White House described Axelrod as a “longtime public servant with deep criminal and national security enforcement experience,” citing his time as the principal associate deputy attorney general during the Obama administration. Axelrod had also previously spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor. He is currently part of the Office of the White House Counsel, where he serves as special counsel on domestic and national security matters.
The Commerce Department is seeking comments, due Sept. 15, on an information collection related to export trade certificates, an Aug. 16 notice said. Both Commerce and the Justice Department use the collection to analyze whether the applicant and its members are eligible to “receive the protection of an Export Trade Certificate of Review.” Applications for an Export Trade Certificate of Review is voluntary, and application submissions are required each time an entity applies for a new or amended certificate of review. Certificate holders must also complete an annual report.
The Biden administration should continue to increase Chinese trade restrictions but has done a good job pressuring the country so far, said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former acting head of the Bureau of Industry and Security during the Trump administration. Nikakhtar recently told Nikkei Asia she and others were initially “nervous” that President Joe Biden would ease some restrictions but has been pleased to see a continuation of many of the same export control measures begun under President Donald Trump.
Foreign military sales of equipment developed by the Air Force this year will likely surpass 2020 numbers, Air Force Magazine reported Aug. 6. Brig. Gen. Brian Bruckbauer, director of the Air Force’s Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, recently told reporters that FMS continue to be “brisk” despite the COVID-19 pandemic and said the directorate has a backlog of $226 billion in active FMS casework. An additional $41 billion in FMS cases are ready to be executed but have not yet officially been signed off, Bruckbauer said, according to the report.
U.S. fruit exports have not seen major benefits from the U.S.-China phase one trade deal due to the rising quality of China’s domestic fruit producers and competition from other countries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Aug. 9. The agency also said China’s imported fruit market has been “dominated” this year by Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries and other free trade agreement partners, and U.S. fruit products face relatively higher tariffs. The “perishable nature of horticultural exports adds another level of complexity” for U.S. fruit exporters, USDA added, as well as high international shipping costs and China’s COVID-19 testing and disinfection requirements.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Washington state farmers Aug. 5 that she wants to make sure agricultural exporters "can bring your products to new markets and new customers," and that she is holding trading partners accountable for their commitments, such as improved dairy access in Canada and opening Mexico to American fresh potato exports. Tai was visiting the district of Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Democratic leader for free trade and a House Ways and Means Committee member. This followed a similar visit last month to Rep. Ron Kind's district in Wisconsin, where she had the same message to farmers. Kind, too, is a prominent Democrat supporting free trade and a Ways and Means member. In June, Tai visited Flint, Michigan, home to Rep. Dan Kildee, a Ways and Means Democrat who always talks about how trade devastated manufacturing workers in Flint. She heard from workers who told her how trade had affected them.
The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating the surcharge practices of eight ocean carriers after receiving industry complaints that the carriers have “improperly” imposed fees, the commission said Aug. 4. The carriers -- CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Matson, MSC, OOCL, SM Line and Zim -- have until Aug. 13 to respond to questions by the FMC’s Bureau of Enforcement and to “provide details that confirm any surcharges were instituted properly and in accordance with legal and regulatory obligations.”
The State Department approved potential military sales to Taiwan and Japan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Aug. 4. The agency approved a $750 million sale to Taiwan for “155mm M109A6 Paladin Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer System” and related equipment. BAE, BAE Systems and Anniston Army Depot are the prime contractors.
Himamauli Das, a former Treasury Department and National Security Council official, will serve as the new acting director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the agency announced Aug. 3. Das will take over from acting director Michael Mosier, who plans to leave the agency at the end of the week. Treasury also said it officially began its search for a permanent FinCEN director.
The semiconductor industry urged the House to pass a bill it said will help boost U.S. chip research and innovation. The National Institute of Standards and Technology for the Future Act, passed by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee last month, would “maintain and build on U.S. science and technology leadership” by providing more funding for research at NIST, the Semiconductor Industry Association said Aug. 3 “The U.S. semiconductor industry relies on foundational research at NIST and other federal research agencies to help create the technologies of the future,” SIA President John Neuffer said in a statement. “We call on all House members to approve this important legislation.” SIA also continued to urge Congress to fund the CHIPS for America Act (see 2107220006).