On April 15, 2018, the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS") imposed a "denial order" against Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation ("ZTE Corporation") and ZTE Kangxun...more
On April 6, 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") expanded U.S. sanctions relating to Russia by "blocking" seven prominent Russian businessmen, 12 companies, 17 senior Russian...more
On April 3, the Office of the United States Trade Representative ("USTR") identified hundreds of Chinese products against which it proposes to impose 25 percent import duties under Sections 301 and 304 of the Trade Act of...more
4/6/2018
/ Aluminum Sales ,
China ,
Imports ,
Section 232 ,
Section 301 ,
Steel Industry ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR ,
WTO
President Trump has issued a proclamation providing for additional 25 percent tariffs on imports of certain steel products and 10 percent tariffs on imports of certain aluminum products. The Administration's position is that...more
3/12/2018
/ Aluminum Sales ,
China ,
Global Market ,
Imports ,
Infrastructure ,
Manufacturers ,
National Security ,
Steel Industry ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On January 29, 2018, the U.S. government released a nonclassified part of a report on senior political figures and oligarchs in Russia (the "Report"). The U.S. Department of the Treasury prepared the Report in consultation...more
Further to our three prior alerts (June, September and November 2017), this alert is to update clients and friends on the proceeding under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 regarding imports of crystalline solar...more
1/26/2018
/ Clean Energy ,
Energy Sector ,
Energy Storage ,
Imports ,
Photovoltaic ,
Renewable Energy ,
Section 201 ,
Solar Energy ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
USITC
On May 23, 2017, the U.S. International Trade Commission ("USITC") initiated a proceeding under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 to determine if imports of crystalline solar photovoltaic ("CSPV") cells and modules are...more
Russia-Related Sanctions Codification: The new law codifies sanctions executive orders related to circumstances in Ukraine and Crimea as well as certain cyber-enabled activities, restricting the U.S. President's authority to...more
8/22/2017
/ Crimea ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Authority ,
Firearms ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran Sanctions ,
New Legislation ,
North Korea ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration ,
Ukraine
On May 23, 2017, the U.S. International Trade Commission ("USITC") initiated a proceeding under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 to determine if imports of crystalline solar photovoltaic ("CSPV") cells and modules are...more
With the first 100 days of the Trump administration just underway, President Trump has already taken steps to fulfill his campaign promises and renegotiate or withdraw from various U.S. trade deals, including the...more
3/31/2017
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
On March 7, U.S. authorities settled criminal and civil proceedings involving Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation and certain of its affiliates ("ZTE"). ZTE is the largest publicly traded telecommunications...more
3/17/2017
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Export Controls ,
Iran Sanctions ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Technology ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
ZTE
On December 2, President Obama, acting under the Exon-Florio law, blocked the planned acquisition by China's Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP ("Fujian Grand Chip"), a Chinese investment fund, of the U.S. operations of...more
12/9/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defense Production Act ,
Exon-Florio ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
Germany ,
Investment Funds ,
National Security ,
Obama Administration ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
Transition Team ,
Trump Administration
For businesses that work with the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”), two important rules for safeguarding certain categories of sensitive information and reporting cyber incidents were recently finalized, updating the...more
Even today, most companies—even technology companies—do not think they have information that the U.S. Government wants or needs, particularly as it might relate to a national security investigation. The reality is that as...more
10/14/2016
/ Credit Reporting Agencies ,
ECPA ,
Electronic Communications ,
FBI ,
Financial Institutions ,
Information Requests ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
National Security ,
National Security Letters (NSLs) ,
Patriot Act ,
Telecommunications ,
Terrorist Threats
Crucial Points -
- The U.S. government has, by and large, left in place its embargo generally forbidding U.S. companies, citizens and residents, and others in the United States to engage in Iran-related...more
On December 30, 2015, DoD published an interim rule, effective immediately, amending portions of the August Rule. Most importantly, pursuant to the new rule, contractors administering covered information systems that are not...more
The last four years has seen a trend of increased law enforcement and regulatory investigations into financial institutions for sanctions violations and anti-money laundering, or Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), compliance. The New...more
The United States Department of Defense (“DoD”) recently published two new rules that impose broader obligations to safeguard information that falls within specified categories of sensitive data and to report cyber incidents...more
The "DRC Conflict Undeterminable" determination, widely employed in conflict minerals reports to date, will not be permitted for issuers (other than small companies) reporting in 2016 on activities in calendar year 2015. At...more
Last week, U.S. authorities settled criminal charges against a subsidiary of Schlumberger Ltd. and civil claims against PayPal, Inc. Federal authorities alleged that these companies violated U.S. embargoes and other economic...more
4/9/2015
/ Criminal Sanctions ,
Felonies ,
Iran ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
PayPal ,
Plea Agreements ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
Schlumberger ,
SDN List ,
Sudan ,
Syria
On February 17, the Obama Administration announced a new U.S. export control policy for military and commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ("UAVs"). The policy, the details of which have not been released, reportedly includes...more
On July 16, 2014, the United States announced another expansion of sanctions in response to events in southern and eastern Ukraine. The United States for the first time imposed sanctions against major Russian companies and...more
Orrick and Clean Energy Pipeline have launched a series of reports dedicated to exploring investment opportunities and challenges in the U.S. renewable energy sector. In this first issue, we analyze the exciting investment...more
In response to Russia's actions relating to Crimea, the United States and the European Union have expanded their lists of sanctioned parties and their legal bases for broader sanctions. These sanctions are beginning to...more
In February 2014, the U.S. government imposed a US$115,000 penalty against Intevac, Inc., for alleged export control violations. The government's enforcement action against Intevac reflects far-reaching positions on...more