Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, speaking at a White House press conference April 7, argued that America's infrastructure needs are broader than roads, bridges and ports, and touted the president's proposal to invest $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research, as well as spending to carry broadband to rural areas. She also argued that spending on elder care will prevent people from having to drop out of the workforce to care for relatives.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices April 6:
The Commerce Department on April 1 published its notice in the Federal Register about delaying aluminum import licensing requirements under its Aluminum Import Monitoring System until June 28, 2021 (see 2103290041). “This delay will allow Commerce time to finalize the license application system and to provide both the public and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with sufficient advance notice of the new compliance date,” Commerce said in the notice. The delay also will allow the agency to respond to comments received on the scheme, and “Commerce intends to issue another notification addressing these comments prior to June 28, 2021,” it said.
The Commerce Department is asking for input on how it should structure its Internet and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) preclearance or licensing process (see 2102190033), and is acknowledging that it will not be able to have a licensing regime in place by May 19, as predicted by the previous administration. The rules Comments are due by April 28.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold a virtual forum April 8 to allow industry and other members of the public to present ways the agency can help boost the competitiveness and capacity of the U.S. semiconductor industry, BIS said in a notice this week. The agency requested written comments on semiconductor supply chain issues earlier this month (see 2103110048) but will hold the forum to give commenters a chance to provide “oral remarks.” The comments and remarks will help inform the Commerce Department’s report to the White House as part of a February executive order to address supply chain shortages of semiconductor chips (see 2102240047), BIS said. The forum will include a virtual panel made up of BIS and other agency officials and will run from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Registration closes at 5 p.m. April 1.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices March 26:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices March 25:
The Commerce Department should delay implementing an interim final rule on securing the information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain, the Information Technology Industry Council commented on March 22 in the Commerce docket. The rule is meant to address foreign adversaries’ exploitation of software and hardware sales and intellectual property theft (see 2101150055). “Casting an overly wide net to secure America’s ICTS supply chain in the form of import restrictions as contemplated under this IFR could inhibit the development and commercialization of new technologies in the United States, therefore undermining U.S. technological leadership and competitiveness by driving R&D programs and business 'transactions' to jurisdictions that do not impose such constraints,” the association said. The “breadth coupled with the broad discretion the rule grants to the Secretary continue to cast a cloud of uncertainty over almost all ICTS transactions and could undermine the national security objectives it purports to address, while also hindering U.S. competitiveness,” ITI said.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices March 24:
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices March 23: