President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 into law (P.L. 118-31) (NDAA 2024 or Act) in December 2023. Lawmakers frequently target this type of “must pass” legislation as a vehicle to codify their own, often unrelated policy priorities or “rider” provisions. The NDAA 2024 is no exception, containing a patchwork of trade-related riders that have important ramifications regarding U.S. export controls, sanctions, supply chain issues and other areas of international trade law.
Key Notes:
- Processes and procedures for sending defense articles, defense services and technical data within the trilateral AUKUS security partnership have been streamlined.
- Many sanctions-related provisions overlap with government contract provisions prohibiting the federal government from contracting with certain proscribed or denied persons, especially those owned or controlled by foreign competitors like China and Russia.
- The NDAA 2024 implements the American Security Drone Act of 2023 and the Combating Global Corruption Act.
- The NDAA 2024 requires an analysis of foreign ownership and control of major U.S. container ports that may implicate national and economic security interests.
- Numerous supply chain provisions aim to identify ways for ensuring greater transparency and/or independence of supply chains for critical metals and minerals and address forced labor in China.
- The NDAA 2024 declares the United States should not accept and instead advocate for the end of China’s “developing nation” status in various treaties and international organizations.
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