August 2020

On August 28, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice announcing the extension of numerous product exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs for imports from China appearing on List 4A (products from China with an annual trade value of $300 billion). The exemptions include 14 10-digit Harmonized Tariff…

On August 26, 2020, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it was adding 24 Chinese companies to the Entity List for their role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea. “The United States, China’s neighbors, and the international…

On August 27, 2020, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published in the Federal Register an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) for foundational technologies and asked for public comment on the categories of technologies for which BIS should issue controls. Specifically, BIS is soliciting public comments through October 26, 2020,…

On August 24, 2020, TikTok Inc. and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, Ltd., filed suit in the Central District of California against President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and the U.S. Department of Commerce, in an effort to prevent the government from banning its video-sharing mobile application pursuant to the Executive Order issued…

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against several persons and entities determined to be supporting Iran’s Mahan Air in violation of U.S. sanctions toward Iran. According to both agencies, the involved companies have provided key parts and logistics services…

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced on August 21, 2020 that it has initiated a Section 332 general factfinding investigation on COVID-19 related industry sectors and particular products. The investigation, COVID-19 Related Goods: The U.S. Industry, Market, Trade, and Supply Chain Challenges, was requested by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways…

On August 20, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of State sanctioned six Syrian individuals in President Basher al-Assad’s office and the Syrian Ba’ath Party who have contributed to the oppression of the Assad regime. The sanctioned individuals are: (1) President al-Assad’s media adviser, Luna al…

On August 21, 2020, the United States and the European Union (EU) agreed to tariff reductions on several products unrelated to ongoing trade disputes involving Section 232 national security tariffs on aluminum and steel products and retaliatory tariffs under the WTO dispute involving large commercial aircraft. In a Joint Statement issued by the Office of…

On August 21, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice exempting Section 301 import tariffs for two additional List/Tranche 3 products from China (import from China with an annual trade value of $200 billion):

  • Wallets, whether or not with wrist straps, of reinforced plastics, each measuring at least 17.5

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Since April 2020, we have collaborated with our foreign law firm partners to provide a chart of economic, labor and employment, health and safety, and export and import measures taken by governments around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We will not provide regular updates to this chart (until further notice) but please…