The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, first identified in Wuhan, China, has spread beyond China's borders to dozens of countries, infecting tens of thousands of people and causing a mounting number of fatalities. In...more
3/9/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Management ,
Transportation Industry ,
Traveling Employee ,
Workplace Safety
The Situation: A U.S. District Court vacated a $2 million penalty imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") against Exxon Mobil Corporation ("Exxon") because OFAC failed to...more
2/20/2020
/ Due Process ,
Executive Orders ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Fair Notice ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
Vacated
The Situation: The Trump administration announced new tariffs on imports of certain derivative, or "downstream," steel and aluminum articles with exemptions for certain countries. These tariffs are in addition to the existing...more
2/12/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
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 Situation: The U.S. Department of the Treasury ("Treasury Department") released final regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 ("FIRRMA"), which, among other things, effectuate...more
1/29/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Final Rules ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Governments ,
Foreign Investment ,
NAICS ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Principal Place of Business ,
U.S. Treasury
The Situation: The Trump administration announced a new round of sanctions on January 10, 2020, following escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
The Result: The new sanctions complement existing sanctions...more
1/21/2020
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
The Situation: The U.S. government is revisiting whether to maintain or impose up to 100% additional tariffs on certain goods originating in the European Union following the World Trade Organization's ("WTO") recent findings...more
12/16/2019
/ Aircraft ,
Aircraft Financing ,
Comment Period ,
EU ,
International Arbitration ,
Investigations ,
Public Comment ,
Public Hearing ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
USTR ,
WTO
The Situation: The Office of the United States Trade Representative ("USTR") determined that France's digital services tax ("DST") unreasonably burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, particularly U.S. technology...more
12/13/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Digital Services ,
Digital Taxes ,
France ,
Government Investigations ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Public Comment ,
Public Hearing ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
The Situation: Recent reports indicate that the United States and China may soon reach an initial, limited trade deal that could involve the United States phasing out some existing tariffs on Chinese-origin goods while...more
11/25/2019
/ China ,
Imports ,
Requests for Exclusion ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
The Situation: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS," or the "Committee") recently published draft regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act ("FIRRMA"), which...more
10/31/2019
/ Biotechnology ,
CFIUS ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Data Collection ,
Draft Guidance ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
ITAR ,
Life Sciences ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Real Estate Transactions
The Situation: In response to events in Syria and in the face of strong Congressional pressure to act, President Trump introduced sanctions targeting Turkey.
The Result: Although the President indicated that a ceasefire...more
10/25/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
General Licenses ,
Human Rights ,
Member State ,
NATO ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Steel Industry ,
Syria ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey
The Situation: The United States government has been ramping up its efforts to protect sensitive data and is making clear it expects its contractors to protect data they receive and create. According to a recent Inspector...more
10/25/2019
/ Cloud Computing ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NIST ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain
The Situation: The U.S. Department of the Treasury ("Treasury") proposed regulations that for the first time subject certain real estate transactions to the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United...more
The Situation: The U.S. Department of the Treasury ("Treasury") proposed regulations that expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS" or the "Committee") to review foreign...more
10/3/2019
/ CFIUS ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Rulemaking Process
The Issue: Tech platforms face a hostile environment in Washington, with bipartisan consensus building behind proposals for additional regulation.
The Situation: Regulating how tech companies transmit online content is the...more
9/27/2019
/ Broadband ,
Censorship ,
Communications Decency Act ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
First Amendment ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Net Neutrality ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Social Media ,
Telecommunications
On August 5, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13884 ("E.O. 13884") blocking the property of the Government of Venezuela and authorizing sanctions against a range of additional persons. In connection with E.O....more
The Situation: Certain controlling and non-controlling investments by foreign persons in the United States require a mandatory notification to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS").
The...more