The State Department approved a potential $313.4 million military sale to Canada for munitions and “other systems to be integrated into MQ-9Bs,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Sept. 15. The principal contractor will be General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

A think tank with roots in libertarianism that now supports a carbon tax warned that members of Congress who want to pass a carbon border adjustment tax without a domestic carbon tax face more than just litigation at the World Trade Organization.

Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves will travel with 15 American companies on a cybersecurity “trade mission” to Japan and South Korea Sept. 20-26, the agency announced this week. The mission will help deepen commercial ties between the countries in cybersecurity and “other critical emerging technologies by strengthening joint efforts to safeguard our critical infrastructure and tech ecosystems from those who seek to undermine our national and economic security,” Commerce said. Leaders from the three countries met in August and agreed to boost export control cooperation and work closely in other “protection measures” to safeguard cutting-edge technologies (see 2308180046).

The State Department approved potential military sales to South Korea and Poland worth more than $5.3 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. The $5.06 billion sale to South Korea includes F-35 aircraft and related equipment, and the principal contractors will be Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company and Pratt & Whitney Military Engines. The $389 million sale to Poland includes F-16 “sustainment” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin.

The U.S. doesn't have to sacrifice innovation when imposing new regulations on artificial intelligence, including through potential export controls, said Jack Corrigan, a senior research analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Corrigan said there is always “tension” between the government’s desire to issue restrictions and industry’s drive to develop new technologies, but “as it relates to AI, regulation doesn't necessarily need to get in the way of innovation.”

The U.S. should push World Trade Organization members to "revisit what constitutes good and bad subsidies," which may help encourage transparency and improve "enforcement through incentives for compliance and penalties for noncompliance," the Council on Foreign Relations said in a new report.

The State Department approved a potential military sale worth $4 billion to Poland, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Sept. 11. The sale includes “Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS)” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Northrop Grumman.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports of goods and services to help write the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. Comments are due by the end of the day Oct. 23, and should be submitted at regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2023-0010.

PACCAR, along with Accelera by Cummins, Daimler Trucks & Buses US Holding, and EVE Energy agreed on Sept. 6 to form a joint venture company to establish and operate a battery cell manufacturing facility in the U.S., and plan to submit a voluntary notice to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., according to law firm Squire Patton. The total investment in the facility is expected to be between $2 billion and $3 billion, PACCAR said in a Sept. 7 news release.

A Torres Trade Law guide to maintaining registrations with the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is available on legal intelligence site JD Supra. It outlines how companies involved with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations should be updating their DDTC registrations when certain changes occur within the registered company, such as a change of control, a merger or a change in leadership. Even if no changes have occurred within the company, the law firm noted, ITAR registrations must be renewed annually.