World Trade Organization members negatively affected by national security-related trade restrictions may be able to impose retaliatory measures as a way to address the U.S. gripe with the body's review of national security issues, former Office of the U.S. Trade Representative counsel Warren Maruyama and former WTO deputy director-general Alan Wolff said. In a working paper released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Maruyama and Wolff propose a compromise to the U.S. position that national security claims are nonreviewable.
World Trade Organization members negatively affected by national security-related trade restrictions may be able to impose retaliatory measures as a way to address the U.S. gripe with the body's review of national security issues, former Office of the U.S. Trade Representative counsel Warren Maruyama and former WTO deputy director-general Alan Wolff said. In a working paper released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Maruyama and Wolff propose a compromise to the U.S. position that national security claims are nonreviewable.
Ford Motor announced the company won’t remove AM radio from its cars in the U.S. after getting pushback from lawmakers and broadcasters. “After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we’ve decided to include it” in all 2024 Ford and Lincoln models, Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted Tuesday. “In light of Ford’s announcement, NAB urges other automakers who have removed AM radio from their vehicles to follow Ford’s lead and restore this technology in the interest of listeners and public safety,” said NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt. Carmakers such as BMW and Tesla said AM won’t be in some models. “Broadcasters will continue to support this major legislation to ensure consumer access to AM radio in all vehicles," NAB said.
Montana’s statewide ban of TikTok should be blocked because it violates the First Amendment and the commerce clause and it’s preempted by federal law, the company argued Monday in a lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for Montana in Missoula in docket 9:23-cv-00061-DLC.
Concern is “growing” within the U.S., Australia and the U.K. that “indiscriminate and extraterritorial application” of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations will hurt the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership and “slow-roll cooperation on existing technology transfer,” the Sydney-based U.S. Studies Centre said in a report released this month. The report warned that “another failure” to reform the ITAR could “carry significant consequences for the three countries’ shared defence technology advantages vis-a-vis China and, therefore, their ability to deter regional conflict.”
The U.S. government’s national standards strategy for critical and emerging technology (CET), unveiled earlier this month, is helpful but won’t fundamentally change how standards are developed, speakers said Tuesday on a USTelecom webinar. The experts said the strategy is explicit that industry should play a lead role. The strategy is complementary to the national cybersecurity strategy, also released this year (see 2303020051), they said.
The U.S. ended the Group of 7 summit in Japan with an agreement by member countries to explore new restrictions on outbound investments into China and a strategy to de-risk with regard to certain aspects of the country’s economy, a result President Joe Biden said “showcased the unity of purpose” of the G-7 leaders toward Beijing. The countries also emphasized the importance of multilateral export controls, agreeing to increase cooperation on restrictions over dual-use technologies.
The Treasury Department could use more resources and needs to better recruit and retain employees to implement and enforce its sanctions programs, said Brian Nelson, the agency’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Nelson, speaking during a law conference in Washington last week, said the agency is specifically looking to hire more officials to help it grapple with how best to apply sanctions in the virtual assets space and other emerging industries, including around artificial intelligence.
Electric utilities, wireless ISPs and others asked the FCC to allow broader use of the 4.9 GHz band, beyond public safety agencies, in comments on an FCC Further NPRM (see 2305160065). Utilities said the FCC limiting use to critical infrastructure industry (CII) entities can protect public safety users. CII companies “have a record of co-existence with public safety licensees in other bands,” the Edison Electric Institute said: “To foster local control, public safety entities should directly lease 4.9 GHz spectrum to CII entities, and where public safety entities do not need 4.9 GHz spectrum, CII entities should be able to obtain primary licenses in the band.” The FCC should develop criteria for public safety licensees to work directly with CII companies on preemption, EEI said in docket 07-100. “The Commission has long acknowledged that the 4.9 GHz band is underutilized,” said Florida Power & Light. CII entities “use spectrum in ways that complement traditional public safety users, especially in response to emergencies and natural disasters,” the utility said. The American Petroleum Institute, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance and the Utilities Technology Council jointly said CII and enterprise users are the most likely users of the band beyond public safety agencies. They said it's “telling that no national or regional commercial carrier or organization representing such operators has filed comments indicating an interest in leasing 4.9 GHz spectrum under the conditions, including public safety protections, adopted by the FCC.” The FCC should "reject any argument that there is not a need for access to the 4.9 GHz band by commercial users, that commercial use of the 4.9 GHz band would interfere with public safety operations, and that the public interest would be served by expanding eligibility to certain users while excluding commercial interests,” the Wireless ISP Association said. WISPA proposed use of a dynamic spectrum coordination system to allow public safety to preempt other users. That model will “ensure reliable and immediate preemption and will provide non-public safety users with confidence that they will be able to access the 4.9 GHz band with sufficient certainty that they will only be preempted when technically necessary,” WISPs said. WISPA also opposed a petition by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asking the FCC to reconsider part of revised rules for the spectrum (see 2303300060): “AASHTO’s Petition, which among other things requests that the Commission continue to prohibit non-public safety use of the band, provides no adequate basis for reconsideration under the Commission’s Rules and should be denied.”
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., led filing Wednesday of the AM for Every Vehicle Act to require automakers to maintain AM radio in new vehicles at no additional charge. The measure would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a rule mandating AM radio access in new vehicles. It would also require automakers that sell vehicles without AM radio before the NHTSA rule takes effect to clearly disclose that lack of access. Markey pressed automakers in December on whether they would include AM receivers. Other lawmakers have also weighed in on the issue recently, including a group of more than 100 House members led by Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio (see 2305150063). Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas is the lead GOP sponsor of the bill's Senate version. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and three other Commerce members are co-sponsors. Four lawmakers are co-sponsors of the House version: Tom Kean, R-N.J.; Rob Menendez, D-N.J.; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.; and Bruce Westerman, R-Ark. NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said the measure “ensures that the tens of million Americans who depend on AM radio for news, entertainment and critical safety information each month can continue to have access to this reliable communications medium. As the backbone of the Emergency Alert System, AM radio is instrumental in promptly disseminating vital information across all mediums during crises, ensuring that communities remain safe and well-informed.”