Key Points -
On February 24, the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced, via Presidential Proclamation 10522, an additional 200% ad valorem tariff on Russian origin aluminum...more
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 -
On January 1, 2022, Mexico eliminated its General Customs Administration (AGA, by its initials in Spanish), which had operated under the authority of Mexico’s central Tax Administration Service. In its place,...more
Key Points -
On June 21, 2022, CBP began enforcing the UFLPA’s revisions to section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930—19 U.SC. § 1307—by applying a rebuttable presumption that the following goods are prohibited from...more
Key Points -
On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed the UFLPA into law after it unanimously passed both chambers of Congress. The UFLPA aims to strengthen the forced labor statute by prohibiting the importation and...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
CBP has issued a “region-wide” WRO on cotton and tomato products “grown or produced” by entities “operating in” the XUAR. In a press release, CBP states that the order covers “apparel, textiles, tomato seeds, canned tomatoes,...more
- In Presidential Proclamation 10060, announced on August 6, 2020, President Trump reinstated a 10 percent ad valorem tariff on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum from Canada under the Section 232 of the Trade...more
8/17/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Canada ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Imports ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Section 232 ,
Steel Industry ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
- On July 1, the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, State, and the Treasury issued a joint advisory on the “Risks and Considerations for Businesses with Supply Chain Exposure to Entities Engaged in Forced Labor and...more
7/10/2020
/ China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Supply Chain
- On April 18, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order authorizing temporary deferral of certain duty payments, which CBP implemented via a Temporary Final Rule on April 20, 2020
- Importers of record who have...more
- Late on Friday, March 20, 2020, USTR announced that it has opened a new public comment period for businesses and government agencies to request additional product exclusions from Section 301 duties for certain...more
- Recent actions by the U.S. government and NGOs have intensified international focus on labor conditions in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and companies that allegedly source materials and labor from the...more
IN THIS ISSUE
• Anticorruption Developments
• Export Control Sanctions and Customs Enforcement
• Export Control and Sanctions Developments
• Global Investigations Resources
• Writing and Speaking...more
2/26/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Due Process ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Imports ,
Indictments ,
ITAR ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Red Notices ,
Sanction Violations ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smuggling ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Whistleblowers
- President Trump issued Presidential Proclamation 9980 on January 24, 2020, expanding the product scope of existing tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on certain articles of aluminum and...more
2/10/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Exclusions ,
Imports ,
National Security ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Section 232 ,
Steel Industry ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
• The MTB process allows importers to petition to suspend or reduce normal duties paid on certain imported products for three years, as approved by Congress.
• The petition process opened on October 11, 2019 and interested...more
• The USTR will consider a second list of products, totaling $4 billion in imports, to include in its proposed duties of up to 100 percent ad valorem on EU imports.
• The additional list covers 89 separate 8-digit HTSUS...more
7/5/2019
/ Comment Period ,
EU ,
Imports ,
Public Comment ,
Public Hearing ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
At the end of 2018, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued an opinion in One World Techs., Inc. v. United States. In that decision, Judge Choe-Groves concluded that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)...more
5/20/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Asset Seizure ,
Court of International Trade ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Exclusion Orders ,
Imports ,
Injunctions ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Section 337 ,
Separation of Powers ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Tariff Act of 1930
• Following a setback in U.S.-China trade negotiations, the USTR has increased the Section 301 List 3 additional duty rate on $200 billion of Chinese-origin products from 10% to 25% (the rate already in effect for $50 billion...more
5/14/2019
/ China ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Exclusions ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Notice and Comment ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
• USTR has proposed to impose additional duties of up to 100 percent ad valorem on $21 billion of imports from EU member states as a result of a dispute concerning aircraft subsidies.
• The proposed duties would apply to...more
4/12/2019
/ Ad Valorem Tax ,
Comment Period ,
Duties ,
EU ,
Government Investigations ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Member State ,
Public Comment ,
Public Hearing ,
Section 301 ,
Tariff Classifications ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Relations ,
USTR
• Late on Friday, December 21, 2018, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) quietly announced that it has granted the first product exclusions for products covered by “List 1” of the Section 301 tariffs, effective...more
• 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
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS -
$34 Million SEC Settlement for Legg Mason -
On August 27, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Legg Mason Inc. will pay more than $34 million to settle an...more
9/6/2018
/ 3-D Technology ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Appeals ,
Berry Amendment ,
Bribery ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Declination ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embezzlement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entity List ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Filing Requirements ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
Former Employee ,
General Licenses ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Imports ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Internal Investigations ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Licensing Rules ,
Money Laundering ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
New Legislation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Data ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Probationary Period ,
Racketeering ,
Sanction Violations ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
SFO ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
The Wassenaar Arrangement ,
Trade Agreements Act ,
Trump Administration ,
Wire Fraud ,
World Bank
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS -
DOJ Extends FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy to Misconduct in Mergers and Acquisitions -
On July 25, 2018, in a speech to the Ninth Global Forum on Anti-Corruption Compliance in High Risk...more
8/1/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Arrest ,
Bribery ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Fines ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Credit Suisse ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Customs ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Customs Valuation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Duty Free ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FBI ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Freight Forwarding ,
General Licenses ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Mergers ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Prejudgment Interest ,
Price-Fixing ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Subpoenas ,
Supply Chain ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
Termination ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Venezuela ,
Waivers ,
Wire Fraud ,
World Bank ,
ZTE
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS –
Canadian Mining Company Settles with SEC over FCPA Charges –
On March 26, Kinross Gold Corporation settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its alleged failure to...more
4/11/2018
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bank Fraud ,
Banks ,
Bribery ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Campaign Contributions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customs ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Imports ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Internet ,
Iran ,
Military Goods ,
Mining ,
Money Laundering ,
North Korea ,
Odebrecht ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petroleum ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Resignation ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
South Africa ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
Trade Policy ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
US Munitions List ,
Venezuela ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers ,
World Bank