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
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
The European Commission intensified its focus on semiconductors by proposing the EU Chips Act on February 8, 2022. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen calls it a "game changer". The proposed Act contains...more
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 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 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
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 24 April 2020 United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer notified Congress that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will enter into force 1 July 2020. As a result, the North American Free...more
5/27/2020
/ Canada ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced it is accepting comments on potential Section 301 tariff exclusions for Chinese imports necessary to respond to the coronavirus. USTR is likely to expeditiously...more
3/30/2020
/ China ,
Comment Period ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Exclusions ,
Imports ,
International Harmonization ,
Medical Supplies ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
The United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) is noteworthy for its novel “facility specific rapid response labor mechanism” (the Rapid Response Mechanism or Mechanism). The Mechanism permits the United States or...more
2/11/2020
/ Canada ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Employee Rights ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Disputes ,
Labor Regulations ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Mexico ,
NLRB ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
On 15 January 2020, President Donald J. Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a “Phase One” Agreement between the United States and China, a truce halting the escalating trade tensions between the two global trading...more
On 14 October, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13894, Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria (EO).
...more
10/18/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey ,
Unauthorized Transactions
On 4 September 2019 the U.S. State Department issued "Draft 'U.S. Government Guidance for the Export of Hardware, Software and Technology with Surveillance Capabilities and/or parts/know-how'" (draft guidance).
...more
9/12/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Practices ,
Big Data ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Draft Guidance ,
Drones ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Human Rights ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Social Media ,
Software Developers ,
Spyware ,
Surveillance ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments
Consumer companies on both sides of the Pacific are feeling the impact of the U.S.-China trade war. Targeted by the retaliatory tariffs imposed by both governments and already feeling price pressure as consumer confidence has...more
9/10/2019
/ China ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Requests for Exclusion ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
On 10 July 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into France’s Digital Services Tax (DST) to determine whether the tax is...more
8/20/2019
/ Digital Services Tax ,
Discrimination ,
E-Commerce ,
e-Services ,
France ,
Internet ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Section 301 ,
Stream of Commerce ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
USTR ,
Websites
Following on the heels of U.S. trade negotiators’ return from China, on 1 August, President Trump abruptly announced via Twitter an “additional Tariff of 10 percent on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products...more
8/14/2019
/ China ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Direct to Consumer Sales ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Requests for Exclusion ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
On 10 July 2019 the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into France's digital services tax to determine whether the tax is discriminatory...more
The ongoing U.S.—China trade conflict touches industries from agriculture to manufacturing and products from automobiles to seafood, with the U.S. and China imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods.
In...more
On 20 June 2019 the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the final product exclusion process for List 3 by which U.S. stakeholders can request exclusion of particular Chinese products classified...more
6/25/2019
/ China ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Exclusion List ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Section 301 ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
USTR
The ongoing U.S.-China trade conflict touches industries from agriculture to manufacturing and products from automobiles to seafood, with the United States and China imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of...more
President Trump's Memorandum on Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (memorandum) commissions a report, due 30 October 2019, requiring the collection and analysis of information as well as preparation of...more
Legislation funding the U.S. Government that was signed into law by President Trump on 15 February 2019 includes a provision requiring an exclusion process for articles subject to the third round of tariffs on Chinese...more
On 30 September, after an intensive, last-minute flurry of negotiations, Canada joined the United States and Mexico in a new trilateral agreement to replace the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA 1.0).
...more
10/26/2018
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Automotive Industry ,
Canada ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) ,
Mexico ,
Most-Favored Nations ,
NAFTA ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
Join us on Thursday, November 8, 2018 to discuss the current state of the automotive industry and the impact of technology, regulations, and trade on the future of this critical segment of Mexico's economy....more
The Department of the Interior's (DOI) "critical minerals" list could provide insight into the Trump administration's future national security and trade investigations under the Trade and Expansion Act of 1962. Already the...more