The Biden administration’s potential outbound investment screening program could feature a combination of notification requirements and, in some cases, outright prohibitions on American investments in China, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week. She also offered the administration’s strongest comments to date in support of a new investment screening regime, saying there’s a “good chance” the U.S. issues the rules.

The U.S. may need to address export control loopholes to better prevent China and others from acquiring sensitive technologies, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said, but he also cautioned the U.S. against imposing controls that are too broad and said they need to be coordinated with allies.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week fined two defense companies close to $100,000 combined to resolve their violations of the agency’s antiboycott regulations. The agency fined Arizona-based defense weapons systems manufacturer Profense $48,500 and Washington-based defense contractor B.E. Meyers & Co. $44,750 after they complied with requests from freight forwarders to certify that their goods weren’t Israeli origin.

The State Department’s recently published spring 2023 regulatory agenda continues to mention rules that will update export controls for items on the U.S. Munitions List and make other changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Canada launched investigations of Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold this week after receiving complaints that both companies’ supply chains have ties to forced labor in China. A Canadian agency said it’s probing allegations that Nike has “supply relationships” with Chinese companies that use Uyghur forced labor and that Dynasty Gold, a mining company, benefited from Uyghur forced labor at a Chinese mine in which it had a majority stake.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is expected to increase the number of penalties it issues for violations of mitigation agreements, StoneTurn consultant Scott Boylan said. Orion Berg, a lawyer with White & Case, said there will be a similar uptick in activity from European countries, adding that he expects all EU member states to have an active foreign direct investment screening regime within two years.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., decried what he called "fake trade deals that lack the force of law," at a field hearing in Kimball, Minn., the district of committee member Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R), and called on the Biden administration to negotiate lower barriers to U.S. beef, pork and poultry in the U.K., Taiwan and other countries in Asia.

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Freight forwarders are urging shippers to enroll in a government-run cargo screening program before the end of October, when their air freight will no longer benefit from an exemption for cargo deemed ”impracticable to screen.” So far, “very few” shippers are enrolled in the program, said Brandon Fried of the Airforwarders Association, sparking fear of export delays or potential compliance violations by shippers unaware of the impending change.

The U.S. is currently drafting a list of technologies that will be covered by its new defense trade authorization, which will be used to expedite defense technology transfers under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. partnership. Although the new mechanism won’t require any new authorities from Congress, it’s designed to eventually be supplanted by broader revisions to U.S. defense trade regulations, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said this week.