March 2020

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a Notice and Request for Comments seeking comment from members of the public, businesses, and government agencies as to whether further modifications are necessary to the China Section 301 tariffs “to keep current on developments in our national fight against the coronavirus pandemic.” USTR states…

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced its extension of two general licenses related to GAZ Group, Ukraine-related General License No. 13N, “Authorizing Certain Transactions Necessary to Divest or Transfer Debt, Equity, or Other Holdings in GAZ Group” and Ukraine-related General License No. 15H, “Authorizing Certain Activities…

In its continuing effort to tighten economic sanctions on Iran, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned five United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based companies that facilitate the Iranian regime’s petroleum and petrochemical sales. According to OFAC, these companies in 2019 “collectively purchased hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum…

On March 9, 2020 the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) published in the Federal Register proposed regulations to establish a fee for parties filing a voluntary notice of certain transactions for review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The regulation would establish a fee for both “covered transactions” involving investments…

U.S Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer has formally notified Congress that President Donald Trump will negotiate a trade agreement with the Republic of Kenya.  Ambassador Lighthizer stated that the Trump administration is seeking a “a comprehensive, high-standard agreement with Kenya that can serve as a model for additional trade agreements across Africa.  Kenya is an…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), after seeking comments on whether to extend for another year certain product exclusions it granted in March 2019 (see Trump and Trade Update of January 2, 2020), has granted 11 extensions covering these Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings and product descriptions:

  • 8412.21.0045 – Other engines

…

UPDATED: April 6, 2020 – Major operational changes continue at trade-related U.S. government agencies and courts  due to personnel and public safety concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. Below is currently available information on their status. Overall, the Office of Personnel Management has announced that as of March 16, 2020, and until…

As the novel coronavirus pandemic alters our daily lives, how we interact with each other and how we conduct business, Thompson Hine’s Trump and Trade editors are providing these web links to helpful government and international organization resources. We will update this post as additional websites focused on the global COVID-19 response become available.

The…

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued Friday Federal Register notices exempting Section 301 tariffs for certain List 3 (imports from China with an annual trade value of $200 billion) and List 4 (imports from China with an annual trade value of $300 billion) products.  While the Items on List 3 include several non-medical supply related…

On March 13, 2020, the Canadian House of Commons and the Canadian Senate each approved Bill C-4, an “Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.” Shortly after that, Canadian Governor General Julie Payette gave her royal assent, ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on…