The Trump administration’s 90-day “limited duty deferral” for importers is “welcome news to retailers,” said National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay Monday. Many importers are getting “diminished or no revenue” during the pandemic “while still incurring costs, including the duties, taxes, and fees associated with imported merchandise for their clients and supply chains,” said Customs and Border Protection Sunday. “Aggravating matters, many major retail chains” are closing their stores voluntarily or to comply with mandated shutdowns, it said. The 90-day deferral “provides some retailers with additional liquidity and better cash flow, giving hope for business continuity and a faster recovery once the pandemic has passed,” he said. The deferral doesn’t apply to the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, which remain in effect. “We encourage the administration to broaden these deferrals for additional relief,” said Shay. The Information Technology Industry Council welcomes the administration's "action to alleviate tariff burdens," said CEO Jason Oxman Monday. "We urge more expansive action for the more than $370 billion of goods subject to Section 301 tariffs," he said: "Deferring payment on these tariffs would provide much-needed flexibility and facilitate the delivery of assets to U.S. healthcare providers, companies, and consumers” amid COVID-19.

COVID-19-induced delays in “accounting closing procedures” forced Sony to postpone release of its year-end financial results to May 13 from April 30, said the company Friday. Sony floated that possibility March 27 when it said the pandemic likely would negate the 5% upward revision in its February profit forecast (see 2003270028).

U.S. agencies including the State and Treasury departments issued guidance Wednesday on cyberthreats posed by North Korea, including sanctions in place to counter those threats. The guidance includes information on the types of North Korean actions that constitute “sanctionable conduct,” entities and people currently designated for cyber activity and how Treasury investigates possible cyber-related sanctionable conduct.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and five other Senate Republicans urged the departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy and State Tuesday to “issue regulations as soon as possible confirming that U.S. participation in 5G standards-setting is not restricted by export control regulations” to ensure U.S. technology “continues to form the core of 5G foundational technology.” U.S. tech leaders “have been constrained from full participation in 5G standards-setting bodies” since Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security’s addition of Chinese equipment maker Huawei to its entity list (see 1906190054), the senators wrote Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Commerce Secretary of Wilbur Ross. “We are deeply concerned about the risks to the U.S. global leadership position” in 5G “as a result of this reduced participation, and the economic and national security implications of any diminished U.S. role in 5G.” When U.S. export controls “restrict U.S. companies from participating in standards-setting bodies,” Huawei “is well positioned to fill any gaps,” the senators said. The other GOP senators signing the letter were: John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Marco Rubio of Florida and Todd Young of Indiana.

To counter China's "stark techno-economic challenge" to vital tech industries, the U.S. should aggressively support industries that are “too critical to fail,” such as semiconductors and computing, and software and transportation, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said Monday. Support would include R&D and a competitiveness screen for regulation. ITIF said those efforts should be aligned with those of U.S. allies.

ICANN's June 22-25 policy meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will instead be held virtually, it said Thursday. This will be the second such virtual meeting due to the pandemic, after the March meeting that was to have been in Mexico.

Governments should take a precautionary approach to using algorithms and automation, to prevent human rights abuses, the Council of Europe recommended Wednesday. The Committee of Ministers acknowledged that "digital technologies hold significant potential for socially beneficial innovation and economic development." They urged the 47 CoE members to ensure their laws and policies align with the recommended guidelines. Administrations should consult regularly with corporate actors engaged in designing and deploying algorithms, ensure stakeholders pay "particular attention to the needs and voices of vulnerable groups," and consider large-scale digital services' environmental impact.

ICANN is helping the domain industry in the COVID-19 pandemic, blogged Russ Weinstein, senior director-gTLD accounts and services. Registrars can temporarily delay canceling domain name registrations that can't be renewed. Weinstein said Wednesday that it's a situation that highlights the possible need for a policy to protect registrants when they are prevented from renewing their domains by natural disasters or other extraordinary circumstances.

DOJ National Security Division’s Foreign Investment Review Section will represent the attorney general on the newly formed Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector, the department said Tuesday. President Donald Trump formed the committee in a Saturday executive order to formalize the executive branch’s “Team Telecom” process for reviewing foreign takeovers of U.S. communications assets (see 2004060071). The AG will chair the committee, which also includes the secretaries of defense and homeland security. The panel will issue recommendations to the FCC. “In the digital age, our telecommunications networks are more important than ever,” said AG William Barr. “The federal government must be vigilant and ensure that a foreign adversary cannot undermine the networks.” DOJ welcomes “foreign participation in our communications system, but we must ensure that anyone licensed to do business here is a trusted partner,” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers.

U.S. importers sourced 5.81 million Chinese smartphones in February, said Census Bureau data we accessed through the International Trade Commission. It's the lowest since such tracking began in 2007. COVID-19 upended the Chinese supply chain after the virus' first outbreak in Hubei province in January. February smartphone imports to the U.S. from all countries declined 29% from January, to 10.17 million handsets, and were down 25% from February 2019. China made 57% of February smartphone imports to the U.S., 19 points lower than January and eight points below its February 2019 share.