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
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
The wine industry faced significant challenges due to tariffs imposed by President Trump’s first administration. During the presidential campaign, and since his election on November 5, 2024, President Trump has made it clear...more
The EU is going extraterritorial, and it is doing so through private contract. It is a pretty neat trick.
As a general rule, EU regulations do not apply extraterritorially. This policy is a bit pointed, intended to stand...more
3/28/2024
/ Asset Freeze ,
Buyers ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Exporters ,
Exports ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Member State ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine
On June 23, 2023, the EU released its 11th package of sanctions on Russia. This package is designed to improve enforcement with new anti-circumvention rules, new trade restrictions, and new designations. The...more
6/26/2023
/ Asset Freeze ,
Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Supply Chain ,
UK ,
Ukraine
The U.S. photovoltaic (PV) industry, solar module suppliers, manufacturers, and renewable energy developers are facing new regulatory challenges with the implementation of new legislation which has a significant impact on...more
6/29/2022
/ China ,
Clean Energy ,
Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) ,
Energy Sector ,
Forced Labor ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Manufacturers ,
Photovoltaic ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Supply Chain ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Withhold Release Orders (WROs)
On Monday, President Biden issued an Executive Order suspending the collection of anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) of certain solar cells and modules exported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam...more
6/9/2022
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Biden Administration ,
Cambodia ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Customs ,
Executive Orders ,
Imports ,
Malaysia ,
Plastic Solar Cells ,
Thailand ,
Trading Suspension ,
Vietnam
Last week, the United States government imposed additional restrictions on the imports from, and exports to, Russia. The import changes stem from the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act, signed into...more
4/14/2022
/ Belarus ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Ukraine
Starting January 1, 2022, the use of E171 titanium dioxide as a food additive will be banned in Europe. The European Commission’s proposal to ban E171 in food products throughout the European Union was approved a few weeks...more
If your company is like many, your board of directors may be demanding that you put more effort into environmental, social, and governance issues, which have become known by the now-ubiquitous acronym “ESG.” Those demands...more
10/11/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Customs ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Ethical Standards ,
Exports ,
Forced Labor ,
Imports ,
International Trade ,
Sanctions ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Policy
The Silica Products WRO -
On June 24, the White House announced the first strike against forced labor in the solar equipment manufacturing industry. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO)...more
Key Takeaways:
• Threatened 25% tariffs on French luxury goods are suspended.
• USTR is still looking at tariffs in retaliation for taxes on U.S. global tech companies.
• Biden’s new USTR will face immense pressure to...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Customs ,
Duties ,
EU ,
Exports ,
France ,
Germany ,
Imports ,
IRS ,
Luxury Goods ,
Section 301 ,
Spain ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Rates ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
USTR
Opening Salvos: The Proposed Tariffs-
On June 26, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a notice that it is considering new tariffs on exports such as olives, coffee, beer, gin, and trucks coming into the...more
Is your company in a high-risk zone? Does it have the following risk characteristics?
? Your company imports more than $10 million of goods.
? You are mid-market: between $50 million and $2 billion in annual turnover.
?...more
In light of the widely reported shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, other medical devices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working around the clock to authorize medical supplies for...more
On December 2, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that in response to a digital services tax law passed in France, it would be retaliating with stringent tariffs on luxury products coming from France. The...more
2/7/2020
/ Digital Services Tax ,
EU ,
Federal Register ,
Foreign Relations ,
France ,
Imports ,
Luxury Goods ,
OECD ,
Retail Market ,
Stream of Commerce ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
TTIP ,
Unduly Burdensome ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR ,
Wine & Alcohol
With round after round of tariffs on Chinese goods, announcements, removals, exclusions, delays, increases and, of course, tweets regarding all of the above, it can be easy to get lost on where, exactly, things stand with...more
With round after round of tariffs on Chinese goods, announcements, removals, exclusions, delays, increases and, of course, tweets regarding all of the above, it can be easy to get lost on where, exactly, things stand with...more
9/4/2019
/ China ,
Comment Period ,
Exclusions ,
Imports ,
Public Comment ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
1. All sanctions on Iran that were in place before January 2016 will be re-imposed no later than November, 4 2018.
2. Secondary sanctions that penalize non-U.S. persons doing business with Iran will be reinstated.
3....more
5/14/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Goods or Services ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
On June 19, Commerce Secretary Ross mentioned at a Wall Street Journal CFO dinner that the Administration is now considering launching an investigation of semiconductor imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of...more
After weeks of negotiations and a Putin-backed delay, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2270 on March 2, 2016, imposing new sanctions against North Korea. According to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,...more
3/4/2016
/ Arms Embargo ,
Asset Freeze ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
North Korea ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
UN Security Council ,
Vessels ,
WMD
In the country pubs of Ireland, it has long been the practice of the barkeep to “stand the third round” for good customers, meaning to offer the third drink for free. The practice makes sense both as customer appreciation...more
Agreements to free up the flow of trade between countries or regions are aimed to increase economic activity and wealth on both sides. The EU and United States, however, already make up 40% of global economic output and the...more