The U.S. State Department has proposed amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to increase the fees required for Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) registration. The ITAR requires persons...more
Author and futurist Peter Zeihan recently asserted that President Joe Biden has presided over “the most protectionist administration the United States has had in at least a century.” And Donald Trump reportedly plans to...more
4/5/2024
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Donald Trump ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Investment ,
Joe Biden ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations
On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released a package of three rules (the 2023 Rules) targeting the Chinese semiconductor industry. The rules update the substantial semiconductor...more
10/23/2023
/ China ,
Commerce Control List ,
ECCNs ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Semiconductors ,
Software ,
Technology ,
Trade Restrictions
When can an employer use the “national security exception” under U.S. anti-discrimination law to make a hiring decision based on the national origin of the candidate? An often overlooked area of compliance is how to comply...more
4/27/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Procedures ,
ITAR ,
Required Documentation
In response to Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, both the United States and the European Union have imposed additional sanctions and further restricted exports to Russia and Iran. These new controls span many...more
2/28/2023
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As you may have heard here (and here and here), in October 2022, the United States issued sweeping measures aimed at the semiconductor industry in China. The new regulations restrict the export of semiconductors and related...more
12/21/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Japan ,
Microchip Technology ,
Netherlands ,
New Regulations ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
WTO
Key Takeaways Background Since October 7, 2022, when the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) dropped 140 pages of regulations on the semiconductor industry, U.S. passport and green card holders working at Chinese chip...more
The Announcement On Friday, October 7, 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released for public inspection (available ...) one hundred forty pages of regulations (which we’ll call “the Regulation” here) that...more
10/11/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Depositions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Microchip Technology ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology
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
On Tuesday, May 19, the U.S. Commerce Department published a regulation (effective May 15, 2020) that prohibits sale to Huawei of a microchip made to a Huawei specification, made outside the United States with non-U.S....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
As trade with our North American neighbors continues to evolve and grow, we’re taking a closer look at the newly ratified United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and examining how the new Agreement will impact trade...more
2/21/2020
/ Automotive Industry ,
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 most pressing question around the new FIRRMA regulations is “Will my transaction be covered?” To provide a bit of guidance on that point, we present an illustration from our upcoming Second Edition of The CFIUS Book due...more
1/29/2020
/ Australia ,
Canada ,
CFIUS ,
Covered Transactions ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Encryption ,
Exceptions ,
Exports ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
National Security ,
Private Equity ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Software ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
Europe has come up with a nifty plan to help Iran buy and sell stuff outside the reach of U.S. sanctions. The problem is that the plan is a fraud magnet. How do we know? It’s been tried before, and the fraud was epic.
The...more
8/20/2019
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Fraud ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Imports ,
INSTEX ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
On May 16, 2019, a sweeping U.S. export control rule went into effect that will impact the U.S. tech industry, but may also create an outsized risk for non-U.S. manufacturers. The rule, issued by the U.S. Department of...more
5/22/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Huawei ,
Manufacturers ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department
• Emerging technology sectors are being reviewed now for new export controls that could take effect in 2019 (list below).
• You may submit comments on the criteria the U.S. government will use to determine what technologies...more
12/11/2018
/ Comment Period ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Nationals ,
National Security ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Technology Sector
Key Takeaways:
• Emerging technology sectors will soon be subject to new export controls.
• Affected sectors include biotech, computing, artificial intelligence, positioning and navigation, data analytics, additive...more
11/19/2018
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Comment Period ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Public Comment ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
We’ll give him this: President Trump has an ambitious trade agenda. This fire has many irons in it, and some of them are getting hot. Here at the Global Trade Law Blog, we’ve been following trade law for approximately 250...more
6/29/2018
/ Canada ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Exports ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investors ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration
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
For the first time since the era of pagers, dial-up, and Y2K hysteria, U.S. trade remedy cases are experiencing a resurgence. Under U.S. law, U.S. producers of goods may petition the U.S. government to impose extra tariffs on...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
On January 15, 2015, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to implement changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba announced by President Obama on December...more
1/23/2015
/ Amended Legislation ,
Banking Sector ,
Barack Obama ,
Cuba ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Embargo ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanctions ,
Telecommunications ,
Travel Permits ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury
New regulations on Cuba enter into force today, only 29 days after President Obama promised them. The liberalized provisions focus on support for private sector actors in Cuba. As we described here, the President announced on...more
Since 2011, President Barack Obama’s administration has actively pursued export control reform designed to reduce the regulatory burdens on U.S. companies and enhance U.S. national security (as reported here). On March 7,...more