“Secondary tariffs” strike again, with India now squarely in the crosshairs of the latest U.S. trade action. On August 6, President Trump issued an executive order “Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of...more
8/8/2025
/ Ad Valorem Tax ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Effective Date ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Goods or Services ,
Imports ,
India ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Russia ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On July 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reached a settlement with Key Holding, LLC (Key Holding) concerning its non-U.S. subsidiary’s violations of the Cuban Assets...more
7/15/2025
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
International Trade ,
Merger Agreements ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Sanctions ,
U.S. Treasury
On June 30, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) that, effective July 1, revokes the U.S. sanctions program on Syria, and calls for the removal of the Syrian Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal...more
On June 12, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed a civil penalty of approximately $216 million on GVA Capital Ltd., a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, for...more
6/17/2025
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
Subpoenas ,
Venture Capital
On May 23, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License 25 (GL 25), effectively lifting most sanctions imposed under the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (SSR) (31...more
On April 30, 2025, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Todd Young (R-IN) — joined by a bipartisan group of Senate and House sponsors — reintroduced the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for...more
5/6/2025
/ China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Imports ,
Infrastructure ,
International Trade ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Maritime Transport ,
National Security ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Shipbuilding ,
Shipping ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Policy ,
USTR ,
Vessels
On April 17, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced proposed trade actions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) to counteract China’s systemic dominance in the maritime,...more
4/23/2025
/ China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Maritime Transport ,
National Security ,
Ports ,
Section 301 ,
Shipping ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
USTR ,
Vessels
On March 25, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a significant expansion of its Entity List restrictions, adding 80 entities from China, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa,...more
3/28/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Machine Learning ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
On April 2 — labeled “Liberation Day” by President Trump — the Trump administration is set to add a new sanctions-like boost to its tariff strategy, with a threat to impose unprecedented “secondary tariffs” of 25% on “all...more
3/28/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Infrastructure ,
Mexico ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Secretary of Commerce ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
Venezuela
On March 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a final rule extending the recordkeeping requirements under OFAC’s regulations from five years to 10 years. This change...more
3/26/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Trading with the Enemy Act ,
U.S. Treasury
On March 12, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allowed General License (GL) 8L under the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations to expire. As a result, broad OFAC...more
3/14/2025
/ Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Biofuel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Natural Gas ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
The Trump administration continues to ramp up sanctions on Venezuela and Yemen's Houthis, while sending mixed signals about its intentions with respect to Russia. We provide brief updates on these three areas, following up...more
3/11/2025
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Russia ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
US Trade Policies ,
Venezuela ,
Yemen
On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Departments of State and the Treasury designated eight Latin American drug trafficking cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), in...more
2/25/2025
/ Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Cartels ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Foreign Policy ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Trafficking ,
Trump Administration
Days before President Biden leaves the White House, the U.S. government has delivered a major blow against Russia. On January 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced...more
1/17/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Infrastructure ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
On December 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License (GL) 1B (Authorizing Certain Activities Involving Federal State Budgetary Institution Marine Rescue...more
1/9/2025
/ Blocked Person ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
On November 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned 21 high-ranking Venezuelan officials aligned with Nicolás Maduro. These sanctions, issued under Executive Order...more
U.S. sanctions laws present complex conflicts with state insurance laws. While state laws govern the timely payment of claims and other insurance practices, U.S. sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s...more
On November 7, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued General License (“GL”) 5Q ("Authorizing Certain Transactions Related to the Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. 2020 8.5...more
On November 21, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated Gazprombank, over 50 internationally connected Russian banks, more than 40 Russian securities registrars, and 15...more
On November 13, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) amended several insurance-related Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 102, 103, and 104) as...more
On October 31, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) released guidance to the maritime shipping industry to help stakeholders identify and avoid sanctions evasion tactics. The...more
On October 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued Frequently Asked Question (“FAQ”) 1197 on securities held at the National Settlement Depository (“NSD”) in connection...more
On October 21, 2024, the Price Cap Coalition—comprising the G7, European Union, Australia, and New Zealand—released an updated advisory to address the rising risks of price cap evasion associated with the maritime oil trade,...more
On September 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued an Interim Final Rule amending its Reporting, Procedures, and Penalties Regulations under 31 C.F.R. Part 501. This...more
On September 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued General License (“GL”) 8 alongside amendments to various Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) in connection with the...more