Department of Commerce

In response to President Trump’s Executive Orders signed August 6, 2020, the Department of Commerce is prohibiting transactions relating to mobile applications WeChat and TikTok to safeguard the national security of the United States. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the US.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the Department of Commerce further restricted access by Huawei Technologies and its non-US affiliates on the Entity List to items produced domestically and abroad from US technology and software. In addition, BIS added another 38 Huawei affiliates to the Entity List, which imposes a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and modified four existing Huawei Entity List entries.

Growing up as a gay kid, one of the first ways I was able to better understand myself was by going on the Internet. I was able to look up queer history that I had never been taught in school, see political debates affecting the LGBTQ+ community that I was too nervous to engage in myself, and look for examples of out and proud LGBTQ+ folks who were living their lives to the fullest. It was the only safe method of engagement I had, until I was eventually ready to come out myself.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a new rule ensuring US industry’s ability to more fully contribute to standards-development activities in the telecommunications sector. International standards serve as the critical building blocks for technological development by enabling functionality, interoperability, and safety.

I am honored to participate in the Department of Commerce’s celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I was born in Taiwan and spent most of my childhood in Seattle. I spent the early part of my career as a software engineer in network architecture and database internals. But as the Internet went mainstream, I became more interested in the socio-economic implications of the digital divide and who might be left behind. So in 1999, I left the private sector to study public policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is now accepting applications from eligible grantees for  Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) supplemental funds (EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance) intended to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the $2 trillion CARES Act into law. The CARES Act provides EDA with $1.5 billion of which $1.467 billion is available for grant making.