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Regulatory Rundown: Dec. 2 - 16
Trump taps former GA senator Loeffler to head SBA, Commissioner Ferguson to head FTC. On Dec. 4, President-elect Trump announced he has chosen former U.S. Senator from Georgia Kelly Loeffler to head the Small Business Administration (SBA). In a statement, Trump said that “Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive.”
Following the Loeffler announcement, on Dec. 10, Trump announced his pick of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to head the FTC, replacing current chair Lina Khan. In a statement following the announcement, Ferguson pledged an end to “Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech” and previewed a cautious approach to artificial intelligence regulation.
Read more here.
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Guzman hosts 1st SBA AI Small Business Summit, launches AI for Small Businesses Resource Hub. On Dec. 10, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman hosted the inaugural SBA AI Small Business Summit, where she highlighted the launch of SBA’s AI for Small Businesses Resource Hub. The resource hub will be “a space for small business owners to learn about AI and AI innovators to learn about the resources available to them at SBA and across the federal government.”
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USTR announces tariff increases for imports from China of certain clean-tech materials. On Dec. 11, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced tariff increases for imports from China of certain tungsten products, wafers, and polysilicon. The rates for solar wafers and polysilicon will increase to 50 percent, and the rates for certain tungsten products will increase to 25 percent, all of which will take effect on Jan. 1.
The increases are part of the statutory review of the tariff actions in the Section 301 investigation of the People’s Republican of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.
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1st agreement under U.S.-Taiwan trade initiative enters into force. On Dec. 10, the first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade went into force. Among the pillars of the initiative were customs administration and trade facilitation, as well as encouraging small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) trade and investment between the U.S. and Taiwan.
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DOL awards over $99M to provide training, employment services. On Dec. 12, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced $99.3 million in grants to 71 organizations in 31 states “to provide training and employment services in its continuing effort to expand access to Registered Apprenticeships, prepare young workers for quality jobs and equip them with industry skills.”
The grants, awarded under the YouthBuild Program, “will support pre-apprenticeships to educate and train young people from 16 to 24 and neither enrolled in school or now in the labor market for construction jobs and employment in other high-demand industries.”
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DOL-OSHA finalizes rule on PPE standard for construction. On Dec. 11, DOL’s Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it has finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment (PPE) standard for construction.” The final rule “explicitly requires the equipment to properly fit any construction worker who needs it.”
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DOL proposes rule to phase out certificates allowing sub-minimum wage payments to disabled workers. On Dec. 3, DOL announced a proposed rule to phase out the issuance of certificates allowing employers to pay some workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.
The rule “proposes to gradually eliminate certificates employers can apply for under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act” that authorize them to pay certain workers with disabilities subminimum wages, proposing to discontinue the issuance of new certificates and establish a three-year phase-out period for employers with existing certificates once a final rule takes effect.
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NLRB restores “clear and unmistakable” waiver standard. On Dec. 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) restored the “‘clear and unmistakable’ waiver standard for evaluating employers’ contractual defenses to allegations that they have unlawfully changed the working conditions of union-represented employees without first giving the union notice and an opportunity to bargain.”
According to the NLRB, the return to the standard “better accomplishes” the National Labor Relation’s Act’s goal of promoting “industrial peace by ‘encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining.’”
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FTC takes action against contractor no-hire agreement. On Dec. 4, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered a building services contractor to stop enforcing a no-hire agreement. The FTC-filed complaint against the contractor, Guardian Services Industries, Inc., alleges that Guardian “includes no-hire agreements in its customer service agreements with residential building owners,” thus prohibiting building owners and competing contractors from hiring Guardian’s employees.
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DoD announces new programs to enhance innovation, awards small businesses under pilot program. On Dec. 11 and 12, respectively, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the formation of a new AI Rapid Capabilities Cell and the launch of SciTechConnect, a new platform aimed at enhancing collaboration with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology. Through SciTech Connect, DoD “hopes to accelerate collaboration with the department and position new contributors for success in addressing national security challenges.”
The announcements coincided with DoD’s selection of “five small, non-traditional businesses” for funding to allow them “to move mature warfighting technologies into production” as part of the department’s “Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies” (APFIT) pilot program.
