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
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
In this continued era of protectionist and mercantilist trade policies arising from the United States, there are strategies that can be carefully evaluated and pursued to maximize Customs duty savings when importing. This...more
On December 23, 2024, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched an investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to targeting of the semiconductor industry for dominance. The...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
As deals increase in complexity, and ownership structures are oftentimes opaque and obfuscated, it is important to be mindful of CFIUS’s continued stance of requesting identities of Limited Partners (LPs) in transactions...more
The Department of Justice really wants violators of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to come forward: following a January 2023 revision of its Corporate Enforcement Policy that incentivized voluntary self-disclosure,...more
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) just issued a significant rule change that reshapes the landscape of export control enforcement.
Published on September 16, 2024, the rule amends the...more
The U.S. Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is the regulatory organization charged with administering the body of export laws known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)...more
On July 23, 2024, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or “the Committee”) released its annual report to Congress regarding the Committee’s national security reviews and investigations of certain...more
The use of forced labor, child labor, or modern slavery practices (collectively “forced labor”) in supply chains is not a new problem in the international trade world; however, many companies remain unaware of forced labor...more
7/29/2024
/ Child Labor ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Due Diligence ,
Forced Labor ,
Internal Controls ,
International Trade ,
Jurisdiction ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain
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
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)
A new proposed rule issued by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) seeks to expand the scope of information that CFIUS can request from parties, expand its ability to monitor and investigate...more
The U.S. agencies most well-known for their enforcement of U.S. trade and national security laws are the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”), the Office of Foreign...more
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
On February 7, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that settlements and judgements under the False Claims Act (FCA) exceeded $2 billion for the 2022 fiscal year. The 2022 fiscal year also had the second-highest...more
2/1/2024
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exploitation ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Imports ,
Investigations ,
ITAR ,
National Security ,
Sanctions ,
Settlement ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
White Collar Crimes
Ensuring compliance with U.S. export controls, import regulations, and economic sanctions is common practice for companies that engage in international trade. These companies often have internal compliance policies and due...more
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP” or “Customs”) is the U.S. agency tasked with addressing import compliance risks and evaluating internal compliance controls implemented by importing companies. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. §...more