Two House Republicans applauded the White House’s national technology strategy for emerging and critical technologies, saying the strategy will help better coordinate agency efforts against China. Reps. Greg Walden of Oregon and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said the strategy prioritizes U.S. efforts to maintain a “competitive edge” over China in emerging technologies. “This national strategy will streamline and better coordinate the federal government’s efforts in this space, ensure emerging technologies are created and deployed based on Western values, and set an example for fellow freedom-loving nations to follow suit,” Walden and Rodgers said in an Oct. 16 statement.

The U.S. should expand federal funding for technology research to help U.S. industries lead in areas such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology, a House subcommittee said in an Oct. 6 report. The report outlines revisions for the U.S. intelligence committee to better support U.S. innovation and research, and said the government needs to act or risk falling behind in technology competition with China.

Two U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions against Turkey for its purchase of Russian missile systems and criticized the Defense Department for not moving fast enough to remove Turkey from F-35 supply chains. Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and James Lankford, R-Okla., said the State Department should immediately impose asset freezes under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, adding that Turkey has “no intention of reversing course and divesting of this system.”

The Commerce Department should reverse its decision to approve more than 455,000 pounds of graphite exports to China, Senate Democrats said, saying the material could be used to expand China’s missile forces. In an Oct. 5 letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, five senators said Commerce recently notified them of the sale, which may have a “dangerous end-use” in bolstering China’s military.

Fifty senators, including 42 of 53 Republicans, wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week, asking that the administration “begin the formal process of negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement with Taiwan.” The first step of the formal process would be notifying Congress, then soliciting input into negotiating priorities.

A task force led by Republican House members recommended more trade agreements, engagement at the World Trade Organization, and “a strategic plan for Phase Two negotiations” with China to address distorting subsidies, dominance of state-owned enterprises that dictate the terms of trade and data, and forced tech transfer and joint venture requirements. It also said the U.S. should be aggressive in enforcing the China phase one agreement, particularly on forced tech transfer, intellectual property and barriers to agriculture imports.

Three Democratic senators introduced a bill that would impose more restrictions on arms sales to protect against human rights violations. The bill -- introduced Sept. 24 by New Jersey's Bob Menendez, Vermont's Patrick Leahy and Virginia's Tim Kaine -- would amend the Arms Export Control Act by imposing more conditions before certain arms sales can be completed.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his fellow New York colleague, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, urging them to monitor the elimination of Class 6 and Class 7 pricing programs in Canadian dairy, the avoidance of geographical indications for cheese names in Mexico, and the implementation of more generous tariff rate quotas for dairy imports in Canada. “While the new tariff-rate quota commitments were intended to provide U.S. dairy producers with greater access to Canada’s dairy market, it is our understanding that Canada’s announced TRQs place U.S. producers at a disadvantage and are inconsistent with the market access provisions secured in agreement,” they wrote Sept. 15.

Two Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats urged the Treasury Department to impose updated Russia Magnitsky Act sanctions, saying the administration failed to announce a new round of designations last year. In a Sept. 9 letter, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Ben Cardin of Maryland said new sanctions are overdue. “[O]ur expectation has been that [the Office of Foreign Assets Control] announces annual designations by the close of each calendar year,” the senators said. “[W]e still do not have the 2019 round of Russia Magnitsky designations from the Administration. To this effect, we urge the release of a robust and credible list of designations immediately.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review the potential purchase of Pennsylvania-based GNC Holdings by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, a state-controlled Chinese pharmaceutical company. Rubio said the purchase falls within CFIUS’s purview because it involves a Chinese company acquiring sensitive data on “millions” of GNC Holdings’ customers and retail locations “on and around military installations” across the U.S.