The Board of Directors at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) approved a nearly $23.5 million loan to the Tennessee plant of an Australian powdered metals firm as part of the bank's Make More in America initiative (MMIA). The direct loan will be used to finance the purchase and installation of industrial metals processing equipment to further expand a McDonald, TN-based critical minerals and refractory alloy processing facility owned by Amaero Advanced Materials & Manufacturing.
Casting aside any vestige of the customary bipartisan comity of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, newly appointed Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) announced the committee’s leadership for the 119th Congress, and fired an opening salvo at the Department of State. “America is being tested like never before and Republicans on this committee are ready to meet the moment. We will stand strong and united as we get to work to carry out our clear mandate to fix the State Department and ensure every dollar and every diplomat we authorize puts America First,” stated the Fort Pierce lawmaker.
The Department of Defense has released an update to the names of "Chinese military companies" operating directly or indirectly in the United States. While not directly impacting the firm's business prospects, the designation fogs the optics of some large partnerships between American manufacturers and their Chinese business partners.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the award of $285 million to the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation (SRC) to establish and operate a CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. This initiative, known as SMART USA (Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA), aims to advance semiconductor design, manufacturing, and packaging technologies using digital twin technology.
In an affront to our most important Asian ally and the largest foreign investor in the US, President Biden blocked Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel. Opponents of the deal argued that Nippon Steel would sacrifice integrated steelmaking capacity in favor of cheaper mills in Asia and the American South. United Steelworkers union leadership has opposed the sale, although many in the rank and file support it, arguing that they do not see how US Steel will be able to continue operations without major investment. Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves has conducted a stunningly effective public campaign to keep a deep pocketed acquirer from purchasing the rival integrated steelmaker. Cliff's own offer was spurned by the board on financial and execution concerns.
Friday 27 December, The Justice Department issued a Final Rule implementing Executive Order (E.O.) 14117, aimed at protecting Americans’ sensitive personal data and U.S. Government-related data from access and exploitation by countries of concern. The rule establishes regulations to address national security risks posed by malicious foreign actors using bulk sensitive data for espionage, coercion, or enhancing artificial intelligence for malign purposes.
December 23 CFIUS notified US Steel they were unable to reach a consensus on the proposed sale to Nippon Steel and referred it to President Biden for a final decision. The President has 15 days from notification to act, meaning an announcement can be expected around Tuesday January 7th. The eminence grise in the affair, Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves has conducted a stunningly effective public campaign to keep a deep pocketed acquirer from purchasing the rival integrated steelmaker. Cliff's own offer was spurned by the board on financial and execution concerns.
A report from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) has revealed critical failures in the United States’ semiconductor export control regime, underscoring its inability to curb the flow of critical technologies to adversaries such as China and Russia. The findings highlight significant deficiencies in the enforcement capabilities of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and inadequate compliance efforts by U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturers, according to the authors.
With the announcement that Donald Trump has named Stephan Miran to head the Council of Economic Advisers, we reprint our discussion of the Harvard-trained economist's unconventional thinking on tariffs and currency which has won widespread acceptance among the president-elect's advisors. Rejection of the premise that tariffs are a consumption tax starts at the top, with the President Elect's "most beautiful word" musings, and the intellectual basis has been articulated in a recent paper by Stephan Miran of the Manhattan Institute and Hudson Bay Capital. What may be under appreciated is Miran's thinking on the sanctity of repaying government debt.
The United States has prevailed in its dispute under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) challenging certain Mexican biotechnology measures concerning genetically engineered (GE) corn. The USMCA panel agreed with the United States on all seven legal claims, finding that Mexico’s measures are not based on science and undermine the market access that Mexico agreed to provide in the USMCA.
Early Saturday morning, the Senate approved legislation extending governemnt funding for three months and providing disaster assistance for Appalachia and Florida.. The 85 - 11 vote in the Senate followed on a 366 - 34 approval by the House earlier in the day Friday.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) introduced a bill he intends to call “Safeguard American Innovation Act,” The legislation, introduced December 17th, prohibits the Defense Department from contracting for IT services with a company that has R&D or Data Centers in the PRC.
The Justice Department submitted to the Federal Register last week a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update and clarify regulations issued under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). FARA requires persons in the United States who are acting as agents of foreign principals and engaged in certain specified activities to make periodic public disclosures of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts, and disbursements in support of those activities.
The Joint Economic Committee held a hearing titled “Trade Wars & Higher Costs: The Case Against Trump’s Tariffs.” Chaired by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), the session focused on President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on virtually all imported goods. Witnesses warned that the tariffs would increase consumer prices, harm U.S. competitiveness, and fail to generate sufficient revenue to offset proposed tax cuts. he same day of the hearing, December 18th, the Congressional Budget Office released a report on the effects of tariffs, noting the proposed Trump tariffs would have first-order impacts on GDP and prices, in the neighborhood of 0.5 to 1 percent, although the report notes "The United States has implemented no increases in tariffs of this size in more than 50 years, so there is little relevant empirical evidence on their effects."
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the second round of Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) grants, allocating $300 million to [67 partners] once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied, promoting American food and agricultural exports in emerging global markets. This latest investment brings total RAPP funding to $600 million in 2024. “RAPP is a critical tool for helping U.S. producers and agribusinesses stay competitive in today’s global trading environment,” Secretary Vilsack said.
Candidate Trump promised tariffs on all imports from 10 to 20 percent, with a special rate of 60 percent on all imports from China. While special favors and brinksmanship will determine the ultimate levies, it's worth taking a look at where the costs of the proposed duties will fall. Consumers can expect to see higher prices reflected in electrical devices, toys and sporting goods, vegetable and meat products, and imported foodstuffs. Consumer electronics were largely shielded from the 2018 tariffs, including cell phones, laptops, and smartwatches. Toys and sports equipment are currently very lightly taxed, the authors note, and a 60 percent tariff almost certainly will be felt directly by American household
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark) is confident that President-elect Trump will push Congress to approve his legislation ending China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations status once he takes office. Mr. Trump supports the bill and will be pressing for its approval, Sen. Cotton told the Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO Forum. The President-elect’s pick for Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla), is a co-sponsor of the legislation. In response to a question, Sen. Cotton suggested that Mr. Trump’s threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico is “an effective negotiating tactic” to get the two countries to crack down on border security in order to stem illegal immigration. But “when he talks about tariffs on China, that’s a horse of a different color,” he said.
President Joe Biden plans to formally block Nippon Steel's proposed takeover of U.S. Steel on national security grounds once the $15 billion deal is referred back to him later this month, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. CFIUS, the U.S. national security panel reviewing the deal must refer its decision on the merger to Biden by Dec. 23. A referral to the president suggests at least one panel member sees the deal as risky, the report added.
On December 13, 2024, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) signed a protocol to amend the U.S.-PRC Science and Technology Agreement (STA) and extend it for five years. First signed in 1979, The STA provides consistent standards for U.S.-PRC bilateral government-to-government scientific cooperation in areas such as agriculture, energy, space, health, environment, earth sciences, engineering, and educational and scholarly exchanges. The Agreement sustains intellectual property protections, establishes new guardrails for implementing agencies to protect the safety and security of their researchers, and includes newly established and strengthened provisions on transparency and data reciprocity.
The proposed rule seeks to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to align with Section 1655 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2019. The rule aims to enhance national security by mandating disclosures from contractors related to sharing source code and computer code with foreign governments.