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Commerce at a glance [ [link removed] ]


*June 30, 2020*




Coronavirus Disease

COVID-19

Coronavirus: Resources, Updates, and What You Should Know [ [link removed] ]



Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) [ [link removed] ]



Guidelines for Opening Up America Again [ [link removed] ]







Latest News

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Revocation of Hong Kong Special Status [ [link removed] ]

With the Chinese Communist Partys imposition of new security measures on Hong Kong, the risk that sensitive U.S. technology will be diverted to the Peoples Liberation Army or Ministry of State Security has increased, all while undermining the territorys autonomy. Those are risks the U.S. refuses to accept and have resulted in the revocation of Hong Kongs special status.

Suspension of License Exceptions for Hong Kong [ [link removed] ]



Op-Ed by Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross: Under Donald Trumps Leadership, the U.S. Economy Will Come Back Strong [ [link removed] ]

There is no doubt the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically impacted our day-to-day lives. Americans are making adjustments to everything from their morning routines to how theyre managing their money. Families have yearned for good economic news for several months now, and last week we saw the beginning of an economic revival theyve so desperately needed.



USPTO Extends Certain CARES Act Relief for Small and Micro Entities [ [link removed] ]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed significant hardships on many of our stakeholders. As a result, the USPTO has waived certain fees under existing authoritythrough theMarch 16 notice, and has extended certain patent and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) deadlines three times under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), through theMarch 31 notice, theApril 28 notice, and theMay 27 notice.



NTIA Engages HBCU Students and Leadership on Internet Connectivity Challenges [ [link removed] ]

The Minority Broadband Initiative (MBI) has been closely engaging with Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) presidents, chancellors, and students on Digital Economy related issues since its launch last November. Building and maintaining conversations with key stakeholders has been instrumental in understanding and exploring options for leveraging HBCU broadband infrastructure to connect neighboring communities of vulnerable populations, especially during the outbreak of COVID-19.



NOAA Ramps Up Use of Drones to Collect Fish, Seafloor and Weather Data [ [link removed] ]

The surface vessels are part of an armada of "autonomous" (unmanned) ocean vehicles NOAA is deploying this summer in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans to provide high-quality environmental data for resource management and weather forecasting.



Keeping Time at NIST [ [link removed] ]

Einstein is reported to have once said that time is what a clock measures. Some say that what we experience as time is really our experience of the phenomenon of entropy, the second law of thermodynamics. Entropy, loosely explained, is the tendency for things to become disorganized. Hot coffee always goes cold. It never reheats itself. Eggs dont unscramble themselves. Your room gets messy and you have to expend energy to clean it, until it gets messy again. Here at NIST, we dont worry about any of these philosophical notions of time. For us, time is the interval between two events.



Swiss Companies, U.S. Jobs, Global Response [ [link removed] ]

A lot has changed in the course of just a few months in 2020. One thing that has not changed: The U.S.-Swiss business relationship remains strong and is a critical part of our overall bilateral ties. In fact, I have been impressed by the innovation and efficiency of Swiss and American companies, working together to find a solution to the pandemic. Switzerland and the United States have a long tradition of cooperation in business and research; we are natural partners, who share common values such as entrepreneurship, the rule of law, freedom, and democracy.



Personal Income and Outlays, May 2020 [ [link removed] ]

Personal income decreased 4.2 percent while consumer spending increased 8.2 percent in May, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The decrease in personal income in May primarily reflected a decrease in government social benefits. Other social benefits decreased as payments to individuals from federal economic recovery programs continued, but at a lower level than in April.



How Are Americans Using Their Stimulus Payments? [ [link removed] ]

About 85.5% of respondents to the U.S. Census Bureaus experimental Household Pulse Survey said they had received or expected someone in the household to receive an Economic Impact Payment or stimulus check. The majority of adults in households that received a stimulus check from the federal government say they used it or planned to use most of it on household expenses.






In Case You Missed It

*City of South Sioux City receives $12.2 million grant to build new wastewater treatment plant [ [link removed] ]*

The U.S. Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $12.2 million grant to the City of South Sioux City to build a new wastewater treatment plant on Thursday. The City of South Sioux City has patiently waited for the award to be made and is ready to finalize the plans and construct this much-needed project, said South Sioux City Mayor Rod Koch. The treatment plant will be in the south part of the city near a Tax Cut and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone to support business growth after severe flood damage in 2019.



*Skipped the Census? A Knock On Your Door May Be Coming As Early As July [ [link removed] ]*

Door knockers are preparing to start visiting homes that have yet to fill out forms for the 2020 census as early as mid-July, the Census Bureau announced Friday in a press release on Friday, the bureau says it's now planning a "soft launch" next month to "ensure systems, operations and field plans work as they should." The bureau is expected to announce by the end of this month which six areas of the country may first see census workers at their doors, wearing personal protective equipment and trained in social distancing, for the nonresponse follow-up operation.



*New remote sensing regs great improvement, but devil is in the details [ [link removed] ]*

A three-day meeting of a NOAA advisory committee was full of praise for the new commercial remote sensing regulations published last month. Yet speaker after speaker used the phrase the devil is in the details to characterize what comes next. Implementation can be the hardest part and some think legislation is needed Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross assured the 18 members of ACCRES that you told us that our first draft of the rules would be detrimental to the U.S. industry and that it could threaten a decade worth of progress. We listened.



*(Opinion) Our View: Ross visit was advantageous for WB, region [ [link removed] ]*

This was exciting, and the secretary was a delightful man, Frank Rodano said. It just reassures my confidence that were heading in the right direction. People need to be safe of course, but at the same time we need to keep the economy moving. The visit dovetailed nicely with the countys move into the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolfs re-opening plan, and he praised the way local officials are handling it, citing the Chambers respond, return and re-imagine recovery support plan as a solid example of how important it is to have an organization like yours connecting local companies to national assets to help them through this crisis.













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