On May 31, 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice extending specific product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. This extension affects 164...more
6/6/2025
/ China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Retail Market ,
Section 301 ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
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 May 12, President Trump issued an executive order, “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Discussions with the People’s Republic of China” (the Order), temporarily lowering reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports that...more
5/15/2025
/ China ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
order ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
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 April 9, the President signed an executive order titled “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” (the Order), a comprehensive initiative aimed at reversing decades of decline in the U.S. maritime industry. Citing national...more
4/16/2025
/ China ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Maritime Transport ,
National Security ,
Shipping ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
USTR ,
Vessels
On April 11, the White House released a Presidential Memorandum, “Clarification of Exceptions Under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as Amended,” which exempts a list of semiconductors and electronics from reciprocal...more
4/16/2025
/ Cell Phones ,
China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Innovative Technology ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Semiconductors ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wireless Technology
President Trump signed a new executive order, “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment” (the Order) on April 9, marking yet another significant shift in U.S. trade policy. The...more
4/14/2025
/ China ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On April 2, President Trump declared “Liberation Day” and unveiled a series of sweeping tariff measures aimed at addressing trade imbalances and foreign trade practices while boosting domestic manufacturing. Marking the...more
4/8/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Mexico ,
Popular ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
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 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 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
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 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 September 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued three frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) that provide guidance to U.S. companies regarding the Determination...more
Russian Political Disinformation Efforts -
On September 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated 10 individuals and two entities as specially designated nationals...more
Iran and Syria Sanctions and Embargos On September 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued updated guidance to remind maritime support service providers that the...more
9/25/2024
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Syria
On September 5, 2024, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) released General License (“GL”) 108 (“Authorizing Limited Safety and Environmental Transactions Involving Certain Blocked...more
On August 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued General License (“GL”) 103 ("Authorizing Transactions Related to Imports of Certain Diamond Jewelry Prohibited by...more
On August 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced a series of new measures to further restrict the supply of U.S.-origin and "U.S.-branded" items to Russia and Belarus...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) on (i) July 10, 2024, extended General License (“GL”) 13J (“Authorizing Certain Administrative Transactions Prohibited by Directive 4 under...more
An August 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) further delayed to November 12, 2024, U.S. persons’ rights as bondholders of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) 2020 8.5%...more