President Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, took quick action upon her swearing in on February 5, 2025, to make changes within the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) via the issuance of fourteen separate memorandum...more
3/3/2025
/ Attorney General ,
Cartels ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration
On February 13, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum on “Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs” (the “Reciprocal Tariffs Memorandum”), introducing the “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” to determine “the equivalent of a...more
3/3/2025
/ America First Trade Policy ,
International Trade ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Risk Management ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR ,
WTO
President Donald Trump has agreed to delay the implementation of tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for 30 days, following negotiations with the leaders of both countries. For more information about the threatened...more
2/5/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Canada ,
China ,
Export Controls ,
Imports ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mexico ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On February 1, 2025, President Trump announced significant new tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, set to take effect on February 4, 2025. The tariffs were announced via three separate Executive Orders (EOs)...more
Multiple federal agencies are charged with enforcing U.S. international trade and national security laws. These agencies include the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Department of State...more
2/3/2025
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
International Trade ,
Investigations ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Agencies
On January 13, 2025, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced new rules restricting the export of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips and certain closed AI model weights in an...more
2/3/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Direct Product Rule ,
International Trade ,
Licensing Rules ,
National Security ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Senator Cornyn made the above statement on the Senate floor on November 14, 2023, while advocating for his colleagues to pass the Outbound Investment Transparency Act as part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act...more
2/3/2025
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Technology Sector ,
Transparency
On December 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued two new rules further restricting China’s capability to produce advanced semiconductors. One final rule (the “Entity List...more
In addition to a myriad of issues to consider during M&A transactions, parties should conduct due diligence related to US trade regulations and the often-related foreign investment regulations that arise in the context of an...more
12/20/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Court of International Trade ,
Due Diligence ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
U.S. Customs ,
US Trade Policies
On November 17, 2024, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”), in its role as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or “the Committee”), published a final rule (“Final Rule”)...more
Just in time for Spooky Season, the Biden Administration announced executive actions related to the much used – and much lamented, depending on who you ask – de minimis exemption, which allows shipments valued at $800 or less...more
9/30/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
De Minimus Quantity Exemption ,
Duty Free ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entity List ,
Forced Labor ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Information Reports ,
Popular ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
USTR ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
Much has been written about the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), which was enacted on January 1, 2021, and went into effect on January 1, 2024. Briefly, the CTA requires “reporting companies” to disclose beneficial...more
7/31/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Beneficial Owner ,
CFIUS ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements
On May 22, 2024, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the publication of a Federal Register Notice (“the FRN”) setting forth additional and increased Section 301 tariffs for specific Harmonized Tariff...more
On April 17, 2024, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) initiated an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301”) regarding China’s acts, policies, and practices to dominate the...more
Many companies, particularly Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) and start-up companies, continue to struggle with the concept of export control classification of items with encryption functionality. This ongoing confusion is...more
On April 19, 2024, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published an interim final rule (“Interim Rule”), amending the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to enhance cooperation and...more
4/26/2024
/ Australia ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Comment Period ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Interim Rule ,
Licensing Rules ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology ,
UK
March 2024 was a busy month for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP” or “Customs”) with respect to the Enforce and Protect Act (“EAPA”) regulations related to the evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties...more
4/25/2024
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Evasion ,
Final Rules ,
Importers ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
US Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA)
In a move that highlights the U.S. government’s ongoing fight against evasion of sanctions and export control laws, the Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, and Justice yesterday published yet another Tri-Seal Compliance...more
On February 23, 2024, on the brink of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden announced additional sanctions and export controls against Russia and entities in third countries that have...more
2/26/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Those familiar with the U.S. import and export regulations know that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP” or “Customs”) generally enforces the U.S. import regulations, while multiple executive government agencies...more
1/2/2024
/ Asset Seizure ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Census Bureau ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
DEA ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Many importers have experienced at one time or another that horrible, stomach-turning feeling that comes with the realization that merchandise they have been importing has been entered under the wrong HTS code, with the...more
On October 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry & Security (“BIS”) released three rules amending the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to strengthen export controls on advanced computing...more
11/1/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
ECCNs ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Final Rules ,
Licensing Rules ,
Manufacturers ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector
On July 26, 2023, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”), chaired by the Department of Homeland Security, issued updates to its Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with...more
On June 16, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) issued a long-awaited final rule (the “Final Rule”), effective July 17, 2023, related to the Information and Communications Technology Supply Chain. Among other...more
In the nearly eighteen months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many companies have had to reanalyze their export control compliance procedures, particularly with respect to countries with adversarial or strained...more
9/1/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Census ,
China ,
Electronic Export Information (EEI) ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Military End Use ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Venezuela