The Department of Energy’s Request for Information seeks input for the 2026 Energy Critical Materials Assessment (CMA), which will identify materials critical for energy based on two primary factors: importance to energy and...more
Between March 4, 2025, and March 6, 2025, U.S. trade policy in North America changed course multiple times as the Trump administration initially implemented previously paused tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, and two...more
3/11/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Duties ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Mexico ,
Retaliation ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
On February 10, 2025, President Trump issued two Presidential Proclamations reimposing and expanding tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Adjustment Act of...more
2/14/2025
/ China ,
Imports ,
International Trade ,
National Security ,
Section 232 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
On January 13, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a withhold-release order (WRO) on all cotton and tomato products from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) based on information that reasonably...more
On December 2, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an import detention or Withhold Release Order (WRO) against cotton produced by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) based on information that...more
On September 15, 2020, a World Trade Organization (“WTO”) panel found that the Trump Administration’s unilateral tariffs imposed on Chinese products violated WTO rules regarding nondiscrimination and import tariff rates...more
On September 14, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued five Withhold Release Orders (WROs) for a range of goods produced in the Xinjiang region of China. Under 19 U.S.C. § 1307, CBP can initiate enforcement...more
Since the handover of Hong Kong by the United Kingdom to China in 1997, Hong Kong has enjoyed separate treatment from the mainland by the United States, other countries and international organizations pursuant to the “one...more
On April 19, 2020, the Treasury Department in conjunction with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a temporary interim final rule (“Rule”) to provide importers that meet the qualifying criteria with the option of a...more
On Friday, March 20, 2020, in an effort to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it is accepting exclusions requests to remove tariffs imposed on Chinese origin...more
On February 3, 2020, the Department of Commerce published a final rule that amends the regulations for countervailing duty investigations to allow the imposition of duties on countries that undervalue their currencies....more
Criminal investigations will target businesses profiting from the importation into the United States of goods made using forced labor.
The new criminal enforcement initiative seeks to leverage data about corporate supply...more
8/6/2019
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Forced Labor ,
Imports ,
NGOs ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariff Act of 1930 ,
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
On September 1, a new round of Section 301 duties will be imposed on “List 4” products. President Trump previously announced plans for these duties, but had delayed implementation in June citing progress on the negotiations...more
Third-party petitions seeking to ban the importation of goods made with forced labor may affect global supply chains.
Petitions are being filed with U.S. Custom and Border Protection seeking to ban the importation into the...more
7/26/2019
/ CAATSA ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Liability ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Trafficking ,
Imports ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Third-Party ,
Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act
On May 21, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) established a process through which U.S. stakeholders may exclude products included in List 3 from a 25% tariff imposed pursuant to the investigation of...more
Further to our prior blog post, on May 13, 2019, at the direction of President Trump, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) published a proposed tariff list covering approximately $300 billion worth of Chinese...more
On May 9, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Notice indicating that tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports would be increased from 10% to 25%. ...more
On February 4, 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued a withhold release order (“WRO”) against tuna and tuna products from the Tunango No. 61, a Taiwanese vessel, based on information obtained by CBP that...more
June 15, 2018 – U.S. proposes an additional 25 percent ad valorem duty on products from China (818 tariff categories) with an annual trade value of approximately $34 billion. The $34 billion action became effective on July 6,...more
Following President Trump’s direction in connection with the Section 301 investigation into China’s acts, policies and practices related to intellectual property, on June 15, 2018, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative...more
On May 23, 2018, as directed by President Trump, the Secretary of Commerce initiated a Section 232 investigation into whether imports of automobiles, including SUVs, vans, light trucks and automotive parts, threaten to impair...more
President Trump issued a memorandum (“Memorandum”) directing his Administration to take several actions related to the investigation by the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) into China’s acts, policies, and...more
Pursuant to President’s Trump’s March 8, 2018 proclamations issued under authority of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, added customs tariffs on imports of a wide variety of steel and aluminum imports from all...more
On March 8, 2018, President Trump signed proclamations authorizing the imposition of a 25 percent customs duty on certain steel products and a 10 percent customs duty on certain aluminum products. The duties were imposed...more
On November 22, 2017, Apple, Inc. (“Apple”) released a statement confirming reports that its major supplier in China, Foxconn Technology Group (“Foxconn”) has used illegal student labor to assemble the latest version of the...more
12/5/2017
/ Apple ,
China ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Forced Labor ,
Imports ,
iPhone ,
Manufacturers ,
North Korea ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariff Act of 1930 ,
Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act