2018

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a significant ruling in September that distinguished between North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) country-of-origin marking rules and the country-of-origin rules applying to products subject to Section 301 tariffs and trade remedy duties. In its ruling, CBP determined that Chinese-origin components imported into Mexico for assembly into an…

On November 19, 2018, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on criteria for identifying emerging technologies essential to U.S. national security. In the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019, Congress passed the Export Control Reform…

On October 16, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) notified Congress of the Trump administration’s plans to enter into free trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom (UK) after the UK has exited the European Union. (See Trump and Trade Update dated October 17, 2018.) The USTR is seeking to remove both tariff and…

Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump undertook a review of U.S. policy toward Cuba and announced, via a presidential memorandum in June 2017, revisions to that policy to once again restrict certain travel and limit the sale of goods and technology that might benefit the Cuban military. (See Trump and Trade Update of June…

On October 16, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) notified Congress of the Trump administration’s plans to enter into free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union (EU). (See Trump and Trade Update dated October 17, 2018.) The USTR is seeking to remove both tariff and non-tariff barriers and to achieve fairer, more balanced…

The United States has announced additional financial sanctions on three individuals and nine entities supporting Russia’s attempt to integrate the Crimea region of Ukraine through private investment and privatization projects or engaging in serious human rights abuses in furtherance of Russia’s occupation or control over parts of Ukraine. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism…

On November 7, 2018, the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) issued an affirmative final determination in the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from the People’s Republic of China (China). These investigations were self-initiated by the Trump administration last year (see Trump and Trade…

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is seeking public comment concerning the probable economic impact of duty-free treatment for currently dutiable imports from Japan. The investigation, U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-free Treatment for Currently Dutiable Imports, was requested by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer in…