Washington, July 25 (IANS) President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee US export controls on sensitive technologies pledged this week to ensure America’s most advanced technologies do not aid the military ambitions of its adversaries, while promising to work closely with allies and Congress to keep export controls effective as competition with China intensifies.Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Abby Warren, nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary for Export Administration at the C…
Latest Commerce Department News & Updates
Washington, July 21 (IANS) US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation creating a new tariff incentive programme aimed at encouraging companies to build, expand or refurbish aluminium smelters in the United States, saying the move would strengthen the country’s industrial base and address national security concerns tied to imports.The proclamation directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an investment incentive programme under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 for companie…
Washington, July 15 (IANS) US officials have signalled a push to expand Kentucky Bourbon sales in India as Washington seeks greater market access for American agricultural and manufactured products.The issue emerged during a joint congressional hearing on commercial diplomacy between the State and Commerce departments. Republican Congressman Andy Barr of Kentucky asked whether the Commerce Department could help promote American whiskey in India.Barr said he recently discussed the issue with US A…
Washington, July 15 (IANS) The Trump administration has received 78 applications for its new artificial intelligence export programme and signed more than 28 critical minerals agreements as Washington intensifies efforts to compete with China in technology and strategic supply chains.David Fogel, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, told a congressional hearing that applications for the first wave of the American AI Export Programme were nearly three times higher than officials ha…
New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) US-based AI company Anthropic has won US approval to restore limited access to its powerful Mythos 5 artificial intelligence (AI) model to “certain trusted partners” after resolving the government’s national security concerns.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote to Anthropic’s chief compute officer that the company’s efforts with the US government to address risks associated with the models “have yielded significant progress”, multiple reports said.The clea…
Washington, June 3 (IANS) A senior US lawmaker has raised concerns over a Commerce Department decision allowing a foreign automaker with significant ties to China to continue selling and producing connected vehicles in the United States.This could expose sensitive data, undermine national security safeguards and create loopholes in restrictions aimed at keeping Chinese technology out of the American auto market, Representative Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, warned.In a letter to Commerce S…
Washington, May 23 (IANS) US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that there were no immediate semiconductor tariffs coming, according to a report, though he underscored the importance of protecting America’s chip sector.Greer made the remarks at Micron Technology’s memory chip plant expansion project outside Washington, Reuters reported, apparently referring to sectoral duties on chip imports that might come after national security investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act…
Washington, March 31 (IANS) Senior US lawmakers have pressed the Commerce Department to release detailed data on exports of American-made semi-automatic weapons, citing concerns that such sales are fuelling criminal violence abroad.In a letter to Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Gregory Meeks said US firearm exports account for a significant share of crime guns traced globally.Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobac…
Washington, Feb 27 (IANS) Democratic Senators have questioned US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over a $1.6 billion rare-earth minerals deal, warning that the arrangement could benefit his immediate family and his former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald.In a February 25 letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Chris Van Hollen said the agreement brokered by the Department of Commerce with USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR) “could enrich your immediate family.”“This follows in a long string of …
Washington, Feb 24 (IANS) US President Donald Trump is considering fresh national security tariffs on a half-dozen industries after the Supreme Court struck down many of his second-term levies, a media report said.According to a Wall Street Journal report, the proposed measures could target sectors including large-scale batteries, cast iron and iron fittings, plastic piping, industrial chemicals, and power grid and telecom equipment.The tariffs would be issued under Section 232 of the Trade Expa…