President Biden signed into law a measure implementing the initial deal negotiated under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement, even while raising concerns about the constitutionality of the law. The President cautioned Congress that he does not intend to follow all of the requirements of the new law relating to the sharing of negotiating texts.

On August 9 President Biden issued an Executive Order focused on national security threats stemming from U.S. investments in the People's Republic of China (PRC), specifically those related to technologies critical for military and intelligence capabilities. The E.O. aims to protect U.S. national security while maintaining open investment. It sets forth a new program, focusing on prohibiting certain U.S. transactions and requiring notifications to Treasury regarding others, specifically related to the following technology areas: Semiconductors and microelectronics Quantum information technologies Certain artificial intelligence systems

The Titanium Sponge Working Group (TSWG), established under the Trump administration in 2020, has released a report highlighting increased dependence of the U.S. on imported titanium sponge, a crucial raw material for titanium metal production. According to the TSWG's findings, U.S. dependency on imported titanium sponge has risen dramatically from 68% in 2020 to 100% today, emphasizing a severe reliance on overseas supplies. These findings underscore the urgency for measures ensuring access to this critical input, which plays a pivotal role in the defense and industrial sectors, particularly in aerospace applications.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) led a bipartisan delegation of House members to Seoul, South Korea where they participated in bilateral meetings held by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and other prominent Korean government officials focused on U.S.-Korea economic relations.   The twenty-person delegation visited Korea on the first leg of its trip to four East Asian countries. In Cambodia Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, met on August 2 with the lawmakers.

The Department of the Treasury, as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), released its Annual Report to Congress for calendar year 2022. The Committee’s workload remained high with a record number of filed transactions based on the expanded jurisdiction provided by the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), mandatory filings in certain instances, and more sophisticated processes for identifying non-notified transactions.

By an overwhelming vote of 91 to 6 the Senate approved an amendment to the defense reauthorization bill that for the first time would impose notification requirements on US cutting edge technology outbound investments to China and other “countries of concern.” The notification requirement would apply to artificial intelligence, quantum industries, advanced semiconductors and micro-electronics, hypersonics, satellite-based communications and networked laser scanning systems with dual-use applications.

The Administration is not operating on a timetable for releasing highly-anticipated new export control rules on cutting-edge technology, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday. The focus instead is on getting the final rules right, so that US national security is protected but companies are not prevented from selling readily-available technology, she said at a program sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute.

OFAC has released the first episode of its “Introduction to OFAC” web series, a series of short videos created to provide viewers with a high-level introduction on the fundamentals of OFAC and sanctions implementation. The first episode introduces viewers to OFAC and its place within the U.S. government, as well as its history, mission, and relationship with the public. 

A bipartisian group of lawmakers Tuesday introduced the Inter-American Development Bank Transparency Act. which would require the Treasury Department to inform Congress of PRC influence at the …

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., requested in a new letter that Lear Co., the nation’s largest car seat manufacturer, explain how it oversees leather supply chains in Brazil to prevent the illegal importation of goods made with forced labor or deforestation. The letter comes as part of Wyden’s ongoing inquiry into forced labor in auto supply chains. Wyden has written to major automakers and their tier 1 suppliers regarding evidence of parts made with forced labor in Xinjiang, China, as part of his investigation into the effectiveness of customs enforcement regarding forced labor. In June, he held a Finance Committee hearing investigating how cattle supply chains contribute to Amazon deforestation. 

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) ihas been in place for 23 years, enacted in dureing the George W Bush Administration and since renewed to 2025.  Monday, the USTR held the …

Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party continue their effort to challenge diplomats, bureaucrats and captains of industry a quest to bring trade security policy in line with the 24 hour news cycle.   Committee Chair Mike Gallagher’s key take away from his panel’s hearing July 20th  on the Administration’s China policy is that the White House seems unclear on what it means by economic “derisking” from China. “If the core tenet of the Biden strategy toward China is derisking, we have to understand what that means. It’s a little muddy,” he said.

The top US and European Union trade officials had a “direct and candid” discussion yesterday on negotiations to create an agreement governing steel and aluminum trade. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis met in Brussels as the two sides seek to reach agreement on the proposed Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum by October.

Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have introduced bipartisan legislation to increase transparency and oversight of foreign ownership in the US agricultural industry. The Farmland Security Act of 2023 builds on the senators’ bipartisan Farmland Security Act of 2022 by ensuring that all foreign investors, including “shell companies,” who buy US agriculture land report their holding.

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala apparently received a frosty response from several members, including the United States, to her “modest budget increase of CHF 14.56 million (around $ 15 million) for 2024,” and an additional CHF 1.94 million for 2025, according to our correspondent.

Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis traveled to Luanda, Angola, where she met with government leaders, private sector companies and external stakeholders to highlight EXIM's activity in the region.   She also spoke at the Luanda International Trade Fair. In June, Exim approved a direct loan for more than $900 million to the Ministry of Energy and Water of the Republic of Angola to support the construction of two photovoltaic solar energy power plants.

In a sternly worded letter to CEO Jim Farley of the Ford Motor Company, two of the House’s leading China Hawks lashed into the company’s plans to license Chinese technology for electric vehicle battery production, calling for access to Ford’s business records and correspondence related to the deal.

Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control designated dozens of entities as Washington continues to apply economic pressure on Moscow for it's invation of Ukraine. The July 20 actions address munitions, metals & mining, finance, energy and aerospace technology interests.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), declared the enforcement of financial penalties against two defense companies,  resolving alleged infractions of the antiboycott regulations of the …

The House approved several amendments related to China and US supply chains in its consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (HR 2670). The House voted on a package that includes …