The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security finalized some interagency reviews of Huawei license applications and will begin issuing approvals and denials on a “rolling basis,” according to Matt Borman, Commerce deputy assistant secretary for export administration. The announcement was first made by Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told Fox Business on Nov. 19 that Commerce has started “to send out the 20-day intent-to-deny letters and some approvals.” Ross also said Commerce has received about 290 “requests for specific licenses.”

If President Donald Trump signs the bill that passed the Senate unanimously Nov. 19 and passed the House 417-1 on Nov. 20, the secretary of state will have to certify within 180 days whether Hong Kong continues to warrant special treatment under U.S. law because of its special status under Chinese rule. It also requires a report by that date on whether items exported to Hong Kong that are on export controls lists are being transshipped.

The trade war that President Donald Trump began with China 16 months ago is creating pain for businesses, but there's a deeper strategic mistake to consider, said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Goodman, who was speaking during the first session in a Congressional Trade Series on Nov. 19, said, “I still don't know what the basic strategic goal is here." He said he didn't know whether the administration wants to get structural changes to China's economy, as it claims, or whether it wants to reduce the bilateral trade deficit, or to contain China's rise.

The Commerce Department has been “slow” to complete a series of export control reviews mandated by the Export Control Reform Act, including the agency’s upcoming controls on emerging and foundational technologies, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said.

The U.S. will continue sanctioning Venezuela's mining sector and will increase efforts to target countries and foreign groups that support the Nicolas Maduro regime, a top Treasury Department official said.

The Commerce Department’s decision to renew the temporary general license for Huawei “won't have a substantial impact on Huawei's business either way,” the company said in a Nov. 19 statement. Huawei said the 90-day reprieve (see 1911180036), which authorizes a narrow set of transactions with the U.S. despite Huawei’s placement on the Entity List, “does not change the fact that Huawei continues to be treated unfairly.”

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross named Cordell Hull deputy undersecretary for industry and security and Joe Semsar the deputy undersecretary at the International Trade Administration, a Commerce spokesperson said Nov. 18. The two were appointed to their positions Nov. 12, the spokesperson said.

The Commerce Department renewed the temporary general license for Huawei and 114 of its non-U.S. affiliates until Feb. 16, Commerce announced Nov. 18. The renewal -- the license’s second extension (see 1908190039) since it was issued in May -- authorizes certain specific activities and transactions, including those related to existing network operations of mobile services, despite Huawei's addition to the Entity List.

Days before the Commerce Department's temporary general license for Huawei is set to expire, the agency and Secretary Wilbur Ross declined to say whether they will extend the license, but said it has been beneficial for U.S. rural communities. Ross suggested that Commerce would like to keep it going.