On May 28, 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) unanimously struck down the extensive tariffs imposed by President Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The...more
Some importers are finding, to their surprise, that the Trump Administration’s 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel create an exemption from the 125% tariffs on Chinese goods.
The Trump tariff agenda has been complex, to say...more
5/7/2025
/ China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Popular ,
Section 232 ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
The second Trump administration has come flying out of the starting blocks on international trade policy actions—imposing and rescinding, shaping and reshaping tariffs, sanctions, and export controls. The executive orders and...more
The second Trump administration has come flying out of the starting blocks on international trade policy actions—imposing and rescinding, shaping and reshaping tariffs, sanctions, and export controls. The executive orders and...more
The second Trump administration has come flying out of the starting blocks on international trade policy actions—imposing and rescinding, shaping and reshaping tariffs, sanctions, and export controls. The executive orders and...more
4/24/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Russia ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On April 16, 2025, the Department of Commerce announced that it initiated an investigation on April 1, 2025, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, into imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment...more
4/17/2025
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Customs ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Imports ,
Investigations ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Section 232 ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
WTO
In the context of the tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration on imported goods, a prevalent misconception has arisen that foreign suppliers automatically bear the cost of these tariffs. The reality, however, is more...more
On April 2, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) imposing global reciprocal tariffs (White House Fact Sheet). The EO drew enough parallels to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that Trump mentioned it in his Rose Garden...more
On February 1, 2025, President Trump issued three executive orders imposing tariffs on nearly all imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. However, on February 3, the President said on social media that the tariffs on Canada...more
2/6/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration
Tariffs remain the focus of the incoming Trump Administration. Over the past several months, the announcements from president-elect Trump and his transition team have been dynamic. We expect the Trump trade policy team to use...more
1/15/2025
/ China ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
National Security ,
Section 232 ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
As we pass the midpoint of a year marked by assertive enforcement of dual use laws, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an updated version of its Don’t Let This Happen to You! Guide....more
7/16/2024
/ Antiboycott Requirements ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entity List ,
Export Controls ,
Huawei ,
Licensing Rules ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Semiconductors ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) announced its first update to the boycott requester list. The list contains entities that have been reported by a U.S. person as having...more
The U.S. State Department has proposed amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to increase the fees required for Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) registration. The ITAR requires persons...more
Last year, we published an update on BIS’s foray into prohibiting EAR99 items for export to Russia and Belarus. We noted (somewhat in jest) that kitchen sinks may one day be added. Well, that day has come. Stainless steel...more
6/21/2024
/ Belarus ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Software ,
Technology Sector
The solar industry is starting to get whiplash. Over the past year in particular, the industry has experienced a whirlwind of regulatory changes making solar tariffs some of the most complex tariffs in all of U.S. importing...more
6/19/2024
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Batteries ,
Cambodia ,
China ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Energy Sector ,
Imports ,
Malaysia ,
Manufacturers ,
Popular ,
Section 201 ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Thailand ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Vietnam
On May 10, 2024, The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has released a new proposed rule which would make significant changes to OFAC’s standard reporting, record-keeping, and license applications under U.S. sanction...more
Author and futurist Peter Zeihan recently asserted that President Joe Biden has presided over “the most protectionist administration the United States has had in at least a century.” And Donald Trump reportedly plans to...more
4/5/2024
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Donald Trump ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Investment ,
Joe Biden ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations
On December 22, 2023, President Biden signed a new Executive Order (E.O. 14114) containing the latest round of sanctions against the Russian Federation. Shortly thereafter, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that the...more
On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released a package of three rules (the 2023 Rules) targeting the Chinese semiconductor industry. The rules update the substantial semiconductor...more
10/23/2023
/ China ,
Commerce Control List ,
ECCNs ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Semiconductors ,
Software ,
Technology ,
Trade Restrictions
On August 9, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order (E.O.) ordering the issuance of outbound investment restrictions. This E.O. comes after nearly a year of anticipation (as we have documented on several occasions...more
8/14/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment ,
National Security ,
Outbound Transactions ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury
On May 16, 2023, President Joseph Biden vetoed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would have nullified the temporary moratorium on the collection of antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) duties on imports of...more
5/19/2023
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Biden Administration ,
Cambodia ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Imports ,
Malaysia ,
Presidential Veto ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Tariffs ,
Thailand ,
Vietnam
When can an employer use the “national security exception” under U.S. anti-discrimination law to make a hiring decision based on the national origin of the candidate? An often overlooked area of compliance is how to comply...more
4/27/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Procedures ,
ITAR ,
Required Documentation
In response to Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, both the United States and the European Union have imposed additional sanctions and further restricted exports to Russia and Iran. These new controls span many...more
2/28/2023
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Good morning, and welcome back. This is the eighth edition of OIG Shorts, a publication of Sheppard Mullin’s Organizational Integrity Group. In this series, we discuss practical approaches to creating a more effective Ethics...more
As you may have heard here (and here and here), in October 2022, the United States issued sweeping measures aimed at the semiconductor industry in China. The new regulations restrict the export of semiconductors and related...more
12/21/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Japan ,
Microchip Technology ,
Netherlands ,
New Regulations ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
WTO