On December 12, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party of the U.S. House of Representatives issued a comprehensive economic strategy containing over 160 policy recommendations intended to “to fundamentally reset...more
Billions of dollars worldwide are pouring into the transition to green energy, no more so than in the United States (U.S.) where new legislation is providing a powerful stimulus. For Australian investors, the opportunity to...more
USTR announced that the actions arising from the Section 301 investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation would continue in light of hundreds of...more
La posibilidad de presentar reclamos de inversiones existentes conforme al Capítulo 11 del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) para la solución de controversias entre inversionistas y Estados pronto...more
Last month, on 8 September 2022, USTR announced that representatives of domestic industries benefiting from the tariff actions in the Section 301 investigation of “China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology...more
10/11/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Competition ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin purported to annex four Ukrainian provinces: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. This escalation is likely to trigger investment treaty claims against Russia....more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as passed by the House and Senate, is a major political achievement for the Biden Administration, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Democrats of the 117th Congress. This is...more
8/15/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Budget ,
Investment Tax Credits ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Popular ,
Production Tax Credit ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Tax Credits
On 20 and 21 July 2022, the United States and Canada requested consultations with Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) regarding various energy measures that favor Mexico's state-owned electrical...more
Los días 20 y 21 de julio de 2022, los Estados Unidos y Canadá solicitaron consultas con México en el marco del Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC) en relación con varias medidas energéticas que favorecen a...more
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) rebuttable presumption became effective on 21 June 2022. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) released its Operational Guidance on 13 June 2022, and the Forced Labor...more
For those enterprises that have or had ongoing business arrangements and investments in Russia, now is the time to assess and fully understand risks entailed –whether electing to stay in Russia, to withdraw, or to curtail...more
On December 23, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”). Most notably, the UFLPA strengthens the enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by imposing a rebuttable...more
1/7/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Child Labor ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Export Controls ,
Forced Labor ,
Goods or Services ,
Human Rights ,
Imports ,
New Legislation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Supply Chain
The U.S. and the EU have announced a settlement regarding the U.S. Section 232 duties on European steel and aluminum products. As part of that settlement, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced that the 25...more
11/8/2021
/ Aluminum Sales ,
EU ,
Imports ,
Section 232 ,
Steel Industry ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
On 30 July 2021, the FAR Council published a proposed rule to significantly strengthen “Buy American” requirements applicable to goods sold to the U.S. Government. The proposed rule promotes the procurement of goods,...more
8/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Buy America ,
Buy American Act ,
Buy American and Hire American ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Made in the USA ,
Manufacturers ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Meetings ,
Supply Chain
On 5 May 2021, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that the Biden Administration would support India and South Africa’s request for a World Trade Organization (WTO) waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights...more
5/12/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent Ownership ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
TRIPS Agreement ,
Vaccinations ,
WTO
Disputes involving statutory and regulatory changes are traditionally subject to litigation before local courts or local administrative bodies. Nonetheless, international investment arbitration offers foreign investors an...more
President Biden ran on an energy and environmental platform calling for a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The new Administration has hit the ground running with a raft of Executive...more
On 25 January 2021, President Biden issued his first Buy American Executive Order (EO), titled Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers, which is meant to implement the “Made in America” plan...more
1/27/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Buy America ,
Country of Origin ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Information Technology ,
Manufacturers ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain
After eight years of back-and-forth negotiations, Asia’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on Trade (RCEP), the world’s largest regional trade agreement, was signed in an online ceremony on 15 November 2020....more
The US$900 billion COVID-19 relief/stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by the President on December 27 includes sweeping energy provisions that constitute the most significant energy legislation passed by Congress...more
12/30/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
New Legislation ,
Nuclear Power ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Extenders
After eight years of negotiation, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on Trade (RCEP), the world's largest regional trade agreement, was signed in an online ceremony on 15 November 2020. The trade deal lowers...more
A recent investor-state arbitration decision under the investment chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA Chapter 11), Vento v. Mexico, demonstrates that foreign investors protected by an international...more
On 8 July 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 13920 of 1 May 2020, on Securing the United States Bulk-Power System. See our prior...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on 22 June 2020 voted to adopt regulations codifying its long-standing Enforcement Policy Statement on U.S. Origin Claims (Policy Statement). The proposed regulations come after the FTC...more
7/8/2020
/ Country of Origin ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Made in the USA ,
Online Advertisements ,
Product Labels ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On July 1, 2020, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force, and replaced the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). USMCA contains an investment chapter: Chapter 14. Like NAFTA, USMCA...more
7/8/2020
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
CPTPP ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Exhaustion Doctrine ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Investment Funds ,
NAFTA ,
Remedies ,
Statute of Limitations ,
UNCITRAL ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)