There's a news post on the official HK-USA civilian site, mostly about the 2005 SHOT show. But it also reads, in part:
One of the things that excited me most about the AWB sunset was dreams of new HK rifles. I guess that isn't going to be happening. No HK91, and I would guess no semi G36. If the XM8 becomes the M8, this may be the first time in American history that the civilian public will have no legal opportunity to own the same service rifle that the military uses, even a neutered version. *sigh* Depressing.Many expressed concerns over the lack of new products, especially long guns, since the sunset of the Assault Rifle ban. There has been considerable hue and cry for bringing back the HK91, HK93, etc. There was tremendous expectation and assumption that HK would immediately begin entry into the marketplace.
The fact is, the engineering prowess and the machinery for HK long gun product sold 20+ years ago no longer exist, or represent considerable investment and risk in an increasingly uncertain and competitive firearms market. Couple this with costly legal challenges from competitors, and a dollar worth 30% less than the Euro and it is plain that HKI would face considerable challenges to re-enter the centerfire semi auto market.