2020

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), after seeking comments on whether to extend for up to 12 months exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs granted in May 2019 for certain imports from China (see Trump and Trade Update of March 2, 2020), has approved 13 extensions covering the following Harmonized Tariff…

On May 13, 2020, the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (USW), a union on behalf of the domestic industry employees, filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking antidumping (AD) duties on imports of…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its revocation of general license 13E and issuance of general licenses 3H (“Authorizing Transactions Related to Dealings in Certain Bonds”) and 9G (“Authorizing Transactions Related to Dealings in Certain Securities”) to remove references to Nynas AB. Nynas is no longer being blocked…

Two recent federal government actions have highlighted national security concerns related to the nation’s power grid. First, on May 1, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that will likely lead to restrictions on the procurement and use of electric equipment from certain foreign adversaries for use in the U.S. power grid. Second, on…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a Federal Register notice excluding certain List/Tranche 4 products (imports from China with an annual trade value of $300 billion) from China Section 301 tariffs. The exemptions cover three 10-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) subheadings and five specially-prepared product descriptions, which cover 27 separately submitted…

On May 6, 2020, Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that the Department of Commerce will initiate an investigation into whether the quantities or circumstances of imports of mobile cranes into the United States threaten to impair the national security. This investigation is the result of a petition filed by The Manitowoc Company, Inc. (Manitowoc) on December…

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has announced the launch of its “Strengthening American Competitiveness“ initiative aimed at supporting the Program on China and Transformational Exports (“China Program”).  This program focuses on enabling U.S. exports to obtain financing support comparable to such support for Chinese exports to enhance global leadership of exports from…

On May 6, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on whether extensions for up to 12 months should be granted for particular products that have received exclusions in the China Section 301 process from the 25 percent tariffs on imports from China with an…

On May 4, 2020, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) released the results of its investigation to identify imported products related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. The report and database identify 112 U.S. Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) numbers covering a “mix of COVID-19 related” goods, including test kits/instruments;  disinfectants and sterilization products; pulse oximeters and…