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 semiconductor industry urged U.S. and European leaders to cooperate more closely on technology and trade, ahead of a meeting this week between U.S. officials and the European Commission. The two sides should “build on their shared strategic interests and advance regulatory cooperation” to strengthen supply chains, Semi, a semiconductor manufacturing industry group, said June 14. Semi said it wrote letters last week to European Commissioner Thierry Breton, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Joe Biden to ask the European Union and the U.S. to form a trade and technology council. The council would ensure “cooperation on critical technologies and supply chains” to reflect “the needs of both partners and our globally integrated microelectronics industry.”
The State Department on June 10 released its annual report to Congress of authorized exports of defense goods and services to foreign countries and international organizations during the 2020 fiscal year. The report covers direct commercial sales of licensed items for permanent export under the Arms Export Control Act and includes export statistics for each country and organization, including aggregate dollar values of the exports, their quantities and data on the actual shipments of those licensed exports.
President Joe Biden revoked Trump-era executive orders targeting WeChat and TikTok as part of a new order to address supply chain risks involving software applications supplied by foreign governments, including China. The decision, announced this week, rescinds three EOs issued by former President Donald Trump that banned transactions with TikTok owner ByteDance, WeChat owner Tencent Holdings (see 2008070024) and other Chinese apps (see 2101060019). Biden issued a new directive in their place, which the White House said will feature a “criteria-based decision framework” and “rigorous, evidence-based analysis” to address risks in the information and communications technology and services supply chain. The new EO will allow U.S. agencies to recommend actions to “protect against harm from the sale, transfer of, or access to sensitive personal data” involving foreign apps.
A joint statement from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden said the two governments commit to the rapid settlement of the Airbus-Boeing subsidies dispute, and said the two countries will "pursue opportunities to deepen our already extensive trade relationship. " The possibility of a U.S.-United Kingdom free trade agreement was not explicitly mentioned, however.
The State Department again extended a temporary measure to allow employees involved in certain International Traffic in Arms Regulations-related activity to work remotely, the agency said June 9. The measure was first imposed in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2004240017) and was renewed in December after proving popular with industry (see 2012100009). The latest extension, effective June 10, will allow companies to continue using the remote ITAR exemption until the State Department can finalize a rule proposed in May that would make the change permanent (see 2105260008). Comments on that proposed rule are due July 26.
President Joe Biden on June 8 sent to the Senate the nomination of Grant Harris to be the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for industry and analysis within the International Trade Administration (see 2106040030). Harris runs a consulting company that helps companies do business in emerging markets and was previously an official in the Obama administration.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. is committed to an open investment environment and remains the “most attractive place in the world” for business despite the sometimes rigorous foreign investment screening by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. While the U.S. “will always protect our national security, and certain foreign investments will be reviewed” by CFIUS, the U.S. wants to maintain a “level playing field,” Biden said in a June 8 statement. “We believe that our country -- and our world -- are safer, more resilient, and more prosperous because of the investment of foreign-owned companies in the United States,” he said. “As the United States faces increasing competition for the jobs and industries of the future, we will remain the destination of choice for investors around the world.”
Shannon Barley, a Census Bureau official who works on export-related issues, will soon leave her division and transfer elsewhere within Census, she said in a June 8 email. Barley worked with Kiesha Downs, chief of Census’ Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, on the agency’s routed export control effort (see 2012080046), the proposed elimination of export filing requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico (see 2104230025) and other export-related regulations. She will no longer work on the Federal Trade Regulations in her new position as a program analyst in the decennial census division. She starts her new role June 21.
The Federal Maritime Commission is accepting applications from those interested in joining its newly formed National Shipper Advisory Committee, the FMC announced June 7. The committee -- which will accept 12 members from the export community and 12 from the import community -- will meet at least once a year and advise the FMC on the “competitiveness, reliability, integrity, and fairness” of the ocean freight delivery system. Members will serve appointments of up to three years and will not be paid. Applications are due June 30.