The Aerospace Industries Association asked the Commerce Department for more time before it sets space-related export control regulations, in order to allow for its member companies to have "open discussions with the government," in comments filed in a Bureau of Industry and Security proposed rulemaking regarding the Commerce Control List for munitions. The trade group said it lacked an "industry consensus" on multiple changes being considered. The comments were solicited by State and Commerce after both requested public comments on a proposal for items listed on the U.S. Munitions List in categories IV and XV: launch vehicles and spacecraft. The proposal is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to revive the National Space Council and review space-related export controls (see 1904180014). Comments were due April 22

President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will not ratify the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. Trump made the announcement during a speech at a National Rifle Association of America event on April 26. The White House said the treaty "cannot achieve its chief objective of addressing irresponsible arms transfers if these major arms exporters" -- including Russia and China -- "are not subject to it at all." The U.S. signed onto the treaty in 2013, but it was never ratified by the Senate as required. "The United States export controls have long been considered the gold standard for engaging in responsible arms trading and we will continue to use them under our own laws," the White House said.

China’s progress toward its satellite ambitions show the need for stricter export controls, stronger collaboration on those controls with U.S. allies, and more staffing and funding for U.S. enforcement agencies, panelists said during a meeting on U.S. space-related export controls. The discussion, part of a series of panels hosted by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on April 25, was billed as a conversation on China’s military-civil fusion. Lorand Laskai, a researcher at the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology, presented a dire outlook for the state of U.S.-China commercial space competition, saying China poses a major threat to U.S. export controls.

The European Union plans to temporarily end collection of antidumping and countervailing duties for some products that are subject to steel safeguards, it said in a notice in the April 26 Official Journal. For goods that are subject to AD/CV duties at a level below the 25 percent safeguard on steel recently established by the EU, the EU “considers appropriate that no anti-dumping or countervailing duty should be payable during the relevant period,” the notice said.

The European Union is postponing its deadline for making all customs processes in the EU electronic, it said in a notice published in the April 25 Official Journal. Previously set for Dec. 31, 2020, under the Union Customs Code, the new deadlines for creating electronic systems for many EU customs processes, including customs declarations, entry summaries and export filings, will now fall in 2022 or 2025, depending on the process.

Canada and Colombia were removed from the priority watch list for intellectual property violations, and Tajikistan moved off the watch list, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual review of countries' policies on patents, trade secrets, counterfeits and piracy. Saudi Arabia was moved up to the priority watch list because of deteriorating conditions there, including "rampant satellite and online piracy," a USTR official said April 25.

China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued notices announcing changes to its outward processing program and simplified entry and exit for certain goods in its comprehensive bonded zones, according to KPMG’s monthly China customs update. The agency also announced the expansion of a pilot program for TIR carnets, and Shanghai customs announced that export declarations will now be accepted as part of a pilot for advance declaration and expedited processing. Highlights are as follows:

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 15-19 in case they were missed.

A New Jersey defense contractor pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Department of Justice said in a news release. Oben Cabalceta owned two New Jersey companies, Owen's Fasteners Inc. and United Manufacturer LLC. Cabalceta admitted to defrauding the Department of Defense by "providing military equipment parts that were not what he had contracted to provide and illegally accessing technical information because he was not a United States citizen," the DOJ said.

The Trump administration's proposal to transfer firearms-related export controls from the State Department to Commerce would cause significant harm to global security and would loosen necessary controls over dangerous weapons, according to a panel organized by Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif. Speaking at a House office building on April 23, gun-control experts and advocates attempted to debunk the administration's rationalization for transferring authority for gun export controls. Several pointed to the dangers of increased weapons exporting, saying the U.S. could become complicit in killings around the world. Others pointed to lapses in regulations if the changes take effect.