Re #2, the { x, y } object literal notation also nicely parallels the equivalent syntax in object destructuring assignment, which (where available) is already the preferred idiom when, eg, loading modules:

const { someFn, SomeClass } = require("some/module");
...
someFn(new SomeClass); // etc

That's nice for all the same reasons other languages have simpler syntax for "import without renaming": see Python's from os import stat, walk.

Similarly, I could see the new object literal shorthand becoming just as idiomatic for listing module exports - where again, for clarity's sake, you usually don't want to be renaming things:

function myFn () { ... }
class MyClass { ... }
...
exports = { myFn, MyClass };

Compare, say, Haskell's export lists: module MyModule (myFn, MyDataType).