Several of the nine Republicans the House GOP Steering Committee added to the Commerce Committee roster Wednesday have been involved in communications, cybersecurity and privacy policymaking. House GOP leadership, meanwhile, formally named Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., as Commerce chair Tuesday, as expected (see 2211170089). Former panel Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., will stay on as ranking member during this Congress (see 2301030064).
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a 180-day temporary denial order Dec. 13 against three people and two companies for illegally sending controlled exports to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. Along with the denial order, DOJ indicted the three individuals, along with others, on charges related to the illegal exports, including money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S.
The State Department published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda, including planned publication dates for rules to amend the U.S. Munitions List, revise defense trade regulations surrounding the definition of a “regular employee” and expand the types of defense articles and services that can be exported to certain close U.S. allies.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including one new rule that will finalize new chip export controls against China and others that could revise chemical weapons reporting requirements, the Export Administration Regulations and the Entity List.
Globalstar and Iridium shouldn't face notable regulatory hurdles or opposition to their direct-to-handset services, we were told. Iridium said last week it had inked a smartphone service provider agreement. In an SEC filing, it said the deal could mean revenue in the form of development fees, royalties and network usage fees. Apple debuted its Globalstar-enabled SOS emergency messaging service on iPhone 14s in November (see 2211100005).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top 20 stories published in 2022. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.
New Manufacturing USA Institutes can help the semiconductor industry reduce costs and accelerate innovation, particularly in emerging technology areas that could soon be subject to export controls, chip companies and industry representatives said in comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. They also said the Commerce Department should bar foreign entities from working with Manufacturing USA Institutes if they are subject to U.S. export restrictions or have operations in certain countries, including China.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
M&A activity in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sector is down from the more heated pace during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic but could pick up in 2023, TMT M&A experts told us. However, expect fewer big, transformative deals and more a series of bolt-on deals, they said.
The revised March 9 expiration date for the FCC’s auction authority included in the FY 2023 appropriations omnibus package (HR-2617) is spurring House Communications Subcommittee leaders’ interest in quickly reaching a new deal on a spectrum legislative package when talks reconvene at the start of the 118th Congress. Capitol Hill passed the short-term reauthorization after the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees weren’t able to attach the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (see 2212190069), a package of modified language from the upper chamber's version of the Spectrum Innovation Act (S-4117) and other related measures, to the omnibus. Senate Commerce leaders are divided on whether they will be able to advance the legislative package largely in its current form in the next Congress (see 2212270029).