The European Commission published an “Automotive package” on 16 December putting forward proposals in four areas: vehicle CO2emissions, batteries, cutting red tape and corporate fleet decarbonization....more
12/30/2025
/ Automotive Industry ,
Batteries ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Green Transportation ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules
On August 29, 2025, the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) announced the creation of a new cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force “to bring robust enforcement against importers and other parties who...more
9/8/2025
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Imports ,
International Trade ,
Tariffs ,
Whistleblowers
Given the Trump Administration’s unprecedented reliance on tariffs as a foreign policy tool and a means to protect and foster U.S. industry, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is rapidly shifting resources and enforcement...more
European policy-makers are moving swiftly to scale back the scope and burden of corporate sustainability reporting. Specifically, in recent weeks, two parallel developments—one political, the other technical—have introduced...more
6/30/2025
/ Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Parliament ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On Thursday, the European Commission opened a public consultation on a proposed list of U.S. imports that could face European Union (EU) countermeasures if current negotiations between the EU and the U.S. fail to reach a fair...more
The European Union (EU) had said repeatedly that it will retaliate in case of U.S. tariffs, which the EU sees as unjustified. The EU preferred (and attempted) a negotiated solution but moved swiftly to retaliation once the...more
3/14/2025
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Imports ,
International Trade ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Section 232 ,
Steel Industry ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations
On February 26, the European Commission released a series of key proposals and communications to reshape the European Union’s (EU) regulatory framework. Alongside the overall framework communication Clean Industrial Deal, the...more
On February 1, 2025, President Trump signed three executive orders imposing additional tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in response to emergencies...more
Key Points - Last Tuesday, USTR announced the results of its Section 301 “necessity review.” Today, USTR followed up with a Federal Register notice providing details on the further proposed modifications to the Section 301...more
On January 26, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it would place a temporary “pause” on pending decisions to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries with which the United States has not entered into...more
2/2/2024
/ Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy Act ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Exports ,
FERC ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
NAFTA ,
NEPA ,
Public Interest ,
Shareholders ,
WTO
Summary -
Last year the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), under a threat of a vote, accelerated negotiations on an international legal instrument related to intellectual property (IP) and genetic resources...more
10/31/2023
/ Biotechnology ,
Comment Period ,
Deadlines ,
Genetic Materials ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Harmonization ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent Law Treaty ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
USPTO ,
WIPO
The “African Group” in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is pushing for discussions—and potentially renegotiation of international trading rules—on how developing countries do and can acquire technology to build resilience...more
Key Points -
The EU aims to harmonize patent protection rules and flexibilities with a layer on top of national rules. This is in line with long-term efforts by the EU institutions to harmonize patent rules and motivated,...more
On February 1, the USITC formally announced the opening of its investigation into the merits of expanding the TRIPS Waiver to diagnostics and treatments. The investigation was initially requested by USTR, who had been leading...more
Key Points -
The co-legislators of the EU recently reached a provisional agreement on a regulation for a CBAM.
CBAM will require importers to the EU of covered carbon-intensive products to pay a charge for the carbon...more
Key Points -
On December 6, days before a deadline for WTO members to decide whether to expand the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines to cover COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics as well, the Office of the USTR...more
12/9/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Onshoring ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
TRIPS Agreement ,
Vaccinations ,
Waivers ,
WTO
On November 1, USTR released a comment form prescribing the submission format for public comments in the “necessity review” process for the Section 301 China tariffs. USTR first announced the public comment phase of the...more
Key Points -
The United States and its allies are banning imports or increasing tariffs on Russia’s top products—crude oil, petroleum, petroleum fuels, oils, liquefied natural gas, coal, fish, seafood, alcohol,...more
Key Points -
On March 11, 2022, USTR and DOC requested public comments on the trade pillar of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, with both requests including a focus on digital trade issues. Comments are due to both...more
One of the few remaining opportunities for passage of bipartisan legislation this Congress is legislation to improve America’s competitiveness vis-à-vis China for semiconductor manufacturing and scientific research and...more
On Friday, February 4, 2022, the House passed the America COMPETES Act on nearly a straight party line vote to, among many other priorities, fund domestic semiconductor chip manufacturing, dramatically increase scientific...more
On October 1, 2021, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador submitted to the House of Representatives a bill to amend the Mexican constitution in respect of the electric power sector. The bill aims to reassert the...more
Key Points -
The Department of Commerce initiated a Section 232 national security investigation into NdFeB permanent magnets, which are used in fighter aircraft, missile guidance systems, electric vehicles, wind...more
Yesterday, in the unprecedented “In re Section 301 Cases” litigation, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) entered a preliminary injunction that suspends the liquidation of plaintiffs’ unliquidated entries from China...more
Key Points
- On December 14, 2020, Commerce promulgated a fourth interim final rule to revise certain aspects of the Section 232 steel and aluminum exclusions process.
- One notable change is the creation of GAEs,...more