The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) released its final questionnaire to assess greenhouse gas emissions intensity of aluminum production in the United States at the company and facility level.

The European Council adopted Friday a decision to conclude the agreement establishing an association between the European Union and its member states, on the one hand, and Central America on the other.  This is the final step of the ratification process of the agreement, through which the EU and Central America commit to a close, long-term relationship in all main policy areas. It will allow the full implementation of the agreement on the first day of the month following the notification by the EU to the Central American counterparts. 

Wednesday Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), introduced bipartisan legislation to bolster the Export Enforcement Coordination Center—an interagency hub for information sharing and coordination among the key agencies responsible for export control enforcement. At a hearing Thursday, officials from Commerce, Justice and Homeland Security were unanimous in their call for resources from Congress.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai addressed the annual meeting of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), the umbrella group representing textiles "from fibers to finished products, machinery manufacturers to power suppliers."  Tai highlighted workstreams on the CAFTA-DR Textiles and Apparel Supply Chain Directory and a joint project with Customs and Border Patrol as examples of industry specific assistance.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Department of Commerce is announcing its recruitment of candidates to serve on one of its six Technical Advisory Committees (“TACs”). TAC …

The Treasury Department, as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to "enhance certain CFIUS procedures and sharpen its penalty and enforcement authorities." The proposed rule reflects CFIUS’s first substantive update to the mitigation and enforcement provisions of the CFIUS regulations since the enactment and implementation of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, which amended CFIUS’s governing statute (section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950).

The EXIM Board of Directors of the United States (EXIM) last week approved a $156.6 million loan to Ukrainian Railways to support the potential acquisition of 40 Wabtec diesel locomotives.   This transaction is the first project fully financed by a United States government agency in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in 2022.

The United States announced two resolutions of labor disputes initiated under the USMCA facility-specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in Mexico last year.   The Turkish owners of the Teklas Automotive hose assembly plant and the Mexican owners of the Draxton automotive casting operations, both in central Mexico,   conducted remediation satisfactory to US officials. USTR has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to resume liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the facilities.

Two Russian nationals pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) in connection with a scheme to acquire and unlawfully export controlled aviation technology to Russian end users. Beginning in or about May 2022 through May 2023, the defendants conspired to obtain orders for various aircraft parts and components from Russian buyers – primarily commercial airline companies – and then fulfill those requests by acquiring the parts from the United States suppliers.

The United States sent a communication to World Trade Organization members yesterday on climate and trade in hopes of advancing multilateral discussions on how trade policies can support efforts to …

The U.S. and UK Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will see them work together to develop tests for the most advanced AI models, following through on commitments made at the AI Safety Summit last November.   Signed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, the partnership will see both countries working to align their scientific approaches and working closely to accelerate and rapidly iterate robust suites of evaluations for AI models, systems, and agents.

 The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $68.9 billion in February, up $1.3 billion from $67.6 billion in January, revised. February exports were $263.0 billion, $5.8 billion more than January exports. February imports were $331.9 billion, $7.1 billion more than January imports.

The Treasury Department announced it is targeting a network facilitating shipments valued in the hundreds of millions for the Iranian military. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced additional action against Iranian military revenue generation, targeting Oceanlink Maritime DMCC for facilitating the shipment of Iranian commodities on behalf of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

Doha agriculture negotiations Chair Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye is hoping to jumpstart stalled negotiations in agriculture later this month, following the failure to reach any agreement on agriculture at the just concluded World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi.

It is premature to declare Nippon Steel's bid to buy US Steel dead,, despite election year politics driving acerbic scrutiny from Labor and legislators. Tuesday, the United Steelworkers scoffed at Nippon Steel's overtures to the union, calling them "nothing more than another collection of empty promises and open-ended language that would enable it to skirt obligations to workers and retirees."

President Biden raised concerns about China’s unfair trade and non-market economic practices in a phone call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi. It was the first time the two leaders have spoken directly since last November. The telephone conversation came on the same day it was announced that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be leaving for a visit to Beijing beginning today.

Statement Initiative (JSI) on electronic commerce have released a draft chair’s text described as "toothless" for its exclusion of disciplines on cross-border data flows, server localization, and source code. This effort aims to forge an agreement before the European summer break, according to individuals close to the negotiations.  The draft text was disseminated by Australia, Japan, and Singapore.

The leaders of the House Select Committee on China are warning that a Chinese military company, BGI, is attempting to set up a new firm, Innomics, in Massachusetts and Kentucky, to avoid US regulatory scrutiny. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc) and ranking Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill) urged the Pentagon to label Chinese companies that aid the Chinese Communist Party in military biotech research as “Chinese Military Companies.”

The EU, the US, and other Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) partners, joined by Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, announced the launch of the Minerals Security Partnership Forum – or “MSP Forum”. The forum will serve as a new platform for cooperation in the area of critical raw materials (CRMs) vital for the global green and digital transitions.

The EU and the United States held the sixth meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Leuven, Belgium.  Building on prior gatherings, the ministerial continued to polish areas of common interest, while softpedaling longstanding areas of disagreement. Responding to a question about the effectiveness of the TTC, Ms. Raimondo pushed back: “Look at where the US and the EU were three years ago with respect to our collaboration on issues of technology and trade. It's it's nearly night and day."