• Prior to submitting petitions for H-1B visas, employers first will be required to register electronically with USCIS during a designated registration period.
• DHS proposes to use a computer-generated process to select a...more
12/11/2018
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Diversity Lottery ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Registration Requirement ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
• The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would increase Mexico’s and Canada’s de minimis thresholds for express shipments to $117 USD and $150 CAD for duty-free entry, respectively, and $50 USD and $40 CAD for...more
10/26/2018
/ Canada ,
Common Carriers ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Duty Free ,
Exports ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Reciprocity Rules ,
Shipping ,
Trade Relations ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
• Applicants for a green card and for most nonimmigrant visas (including work, student and tourist visas) will be subject to the new DHS rule on “public charge” determination. This will affect the processing of...more
10/12/2018
/ Bonds ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Exemptions ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Students ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Benefits ,
Public Comment ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Tourists
On Sunday, September 30, President Trump reached an agreement with the governments of Canada and Mexico to revise and modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Publishing the text of the new agreement just...more
10/10/2018
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Aluminum Sales ,
Automotive Industry ,
Canada ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Exchange Rates ,
Exports ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Section 232 ,
Steel Industry ,
Sunset Provisions ,
Tariffs ,
TPA Agreement ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
• A recent judgment of the European Court of Justice for bars the use of intercompany transfer prices for EU imports and EU customs duty purposes if (as is commonly the case) these are subject to retroactive adjustments.
...more
• The U.S. Bureau of the Census has issued a notice requesting comments on the definition of “routed export transaction” and the responsibilities of parties in routed export transactions. Comments are due by December 5,...more
• On September 12, 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a Federal Register notice, “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,” to request comments from interested parties on CBP regulations, paperwork...more
9/18/2017
/ Comment Period ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Federal Register ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Modification ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Repeal ,
Supporting Documentation ,
Trump Administration
On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was originally adopted in 2012 and provided deferred action (protection...more
9/7/2017
/ Attorney General ,
DACA ,
DAPA ,
Deferred Action ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Obama Administration ,
Rescission ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
Trump Administration
Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced that he was reallocating three dozen employees to international mail facilities (IMF), as well as...more
8/15/2017
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Safety ,
Foreign Suppliers ,
Forensic Examination ,
IMF ,
Imports ,
Mail ,
Medical Devices ,
Ports ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Screening Procedures
On June 8, 2017, Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) published a final rule that removes the consumptive-demand exception from its regulations that implement the prohibition on the importation of merchandise that has been...more
On March 31, President Trump signed two Executive Orders (EOs) that address trade. The first EO addresses increased enforcement of U.S. trade and customs laws and specifically calls for plans and strategies to combat the...more
4/5/2017
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Counterfeit Goods Regulation ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act ,
Trade Remedies ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Customs ,
USTR
Key Points -
- Congress acts to repeal the SEC’s Resource Extraction Payments Disclosure Rule.
- Full repeal is subject to President Trump’s signature.
- Once enacted, all future administrations...more
On January 31, 2017, Acting Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Michael S. Piwowar, issued two statements calling for comments on the SEC’s enforcement of the conflict minerals reporting requirements of...more
On January 27, 2017, President Trump announced restrictions on entry to the United States by several categories of non-citizens. The EO titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” cites...more
The results of the U.S. presidential election are historic and unanticipated, and they will have significant economic, political, legal and social implications. As we prepare for the Trump presidency, many uncertainties...more
11/17/2016
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Foreign Policy ,
Health Insurance ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently issued letters to major U.S. importers that encourage the recipients to review their recent trade data and CBP’s Informed Compliance Publications (ICPs), and remind them of...more
CBP has released the highly anticipated AD/CV duty evasion regulations, which promulgate an administrative procedure for investigating AD/CV duty evasion allegations that CBP must follow. The regulations will undoubtedly...more
Congress has enacted new legislation, the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (H.R. 4923), which offers a unique opportunity for U.S. companies whose imported goods require the payment of tariffs (i.e., normal...more
The Forced Labor Statute and the Amendment -
In February, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Obama enacted, the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFEA). Among its provisions is an amendment to the...more
Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted 75-20 to agree to the conference report on H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 (the “Act”) sending the legislation to President Obama’s desk for enactment. The Act...more
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule on September 18, 2015, that implements procedures for sharing information about imported merchandise with trademark owners for purposes of determining whether...more
In an unusual case, a U.S. district court in Massachusetts ruled on September 2, 2015, that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must file with the Court an “expedited schedule” for promulgating the final “resource...more
On August 18, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reaffirmed its April 2014 decision in NAM v. SEC, where it held that certain portions of the SEC’s conflict minerals reporting requirements unconstitutionally...more
Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a Federal Register Notice inviting U.S. exporters to request CBP’s assistance in resolving disputes with foreign customs agencies over the tariff classification or...more
On November 18, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the SEC’s motion to rehear the court’s decision in NAM v. SEC. As covered in previous blog posts, the court’s NAM decision held that portions of...more