The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will perform scheduled maintenance on its Defense Export Control and Compliance System 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT June 26, the agency said in a June 24 notice. Applications will be available during this time, but users “may experience disruptions,” DDTC said. The agency said users should access the system at a later time if “functionality” is affected.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to certain “rarely used” short supply activities, the agency said in a notice. The first activity allows U.S. agricultural exporters to register for exemptions from “short supply limitations on export,” and the second activity includes a petition to impose monitoring or controls on recyclable metallic materials. Under the EAR, BIS said U.S.-origin agricultural goods purchased “by or for use in a foreign country and stored” in the U.S. to be later exported may voluntarily be registered with BIS “for exemption from any quantitative limitations on export that may subsequently be imposed under the EAR for reasons of short supply.” BIS previously requested comments Jan. 15 and is extending the comment period for an additional 30 days. Comments are now due by July 26.
The Export-Import Bank will release its annual report to Congress on global official export credit agencies this month, it said June 21. Ex-Im’s advisory committee met last week to discuss the report and some challenges facing U.S. exporters in “global export competition.” It also discussed and “expressed strong support” for the bank’s China and transformational exports program, which authorizes Ex-Im support to help traders better compete with China (see 2104250003).
CBP extended its travel restrictions on the northern and southern borders through July 21, it said in two notices released June 21. The travel bans do not apply to cargo, and exempt crossing the border from Canada or Mexico to work in the U.S. (see 2103180039).
The Office of the Federal Register was closed June 18 due to the new federal holiday Juneteenth, it said. As a result, all the documents posted on its public inspection page that were to be published in the June 18 Federal Register were withdrawn, the OFR said.
U.S. corn and sorghum exports are expected to reach record levels by the end of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, a result of strong foreign demand and reduced competition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a June 16 report. Corn exports for the past year are expected to reach 73 million tons, the “largest in history,” USDA said, while sorghum shipments are expected to reach 7.8 million tons, their highest levels since 2015-2016. Much of the demand has come from China in a trend expected to continue into the next fiscal year, especially for corn, the USDA said.
The U.S. and the European Union agreed this week to establish a U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, which will feature working groups on emerging technologies, export controls, investment screening and securing semiconductor supply chains, the White House said June 15. The European Commission said the council will meet “periodically” at the political level and will be chaired by EU trade officials along with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The working groups will “operationalise the political decisions into deliverables” and report to the political level, the commission said.
Promega Corp., a U.S. biotechnology company, said it doesn't sell to China’s Xinjiang region. following a report last week that said the company’s products are being used by Xinjiang police (see 2106150055). “Promega does not conduct business in Xinjiang, and we have no customers or distributors there,” a company spokesperson said in a June 16 email. Promega said it “takes seriously its obligation to comply with all applicable U.S. government export controls and sanctions requirements,” including the Entity List, and has “robust procedures and controls that ensure compliance with such requirements.”
A Chinese private equity fund manager must obtain approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. before completing its transaction with a South Korean semiconductor company, a June 4 Securities and Exchange Commission filing said. Beijing-based Wise Road Capital and South Korea-based Magnachip Semiconductor, which has offices in the U.S., were told by CFIUS last month to submit a “notice concerning” Wise Road's buy of Magnachip, Magnachip said, which is now “conditioned on the receipt of CFIUS approval.” The two companies plan to file a joint voluntary notice, and Magnachip said it expects the deal's timeline to be delayed. Magnachip added that it doesn’t believe the transaction “will require any approval” in South Korea but plans to cooperate with the South Korean government if it has questions.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis is seeking comments on an information collection involving its annual mandatory survey on foreign direct investment in the U.S. (see 2103120009), a notice said. The survey is used to collect “reliable, useful, and timely measures” of the impact of foreign direct investment on the U.S. economy. Comments are due Aug. 16.