2020

In a Federal Register notice, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has announced that effective September 22, 2020, it is adding 47 entities to its Entity List after determining these companies and persons to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. The entities…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued two Federal Register notices announcing the extension of numerous product exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs for imports from China appearing on List 1 (products from China with an annual trade value of $34 billion) and List 2 (products from China with an annual trade…

On September 15, 2020, a dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that President Donald Trump’s tariffs against China violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) because they are prima facie inconsistent with Articles I:1 (Most-favored Nation Treatment) and certain of the GATT’s schedules and concessions, and the United States…

On September 15, 2020, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a statement that it will “modify the terms of the 10% tariff imposed in August on imports of Canadian non-alloyed unwrought aluminum.” The United States will resume duty-free treatment of the Canadian aluminum retroactive to September 1, 2020, based on the…

On September 10, 2020, HMTX Industries LLC and two of its subsidiaries (“complainants”) filed a complaint at the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) alleging an unlawful escalation of the ongoing trade war with China through the imposition of a third round of tariffs on imports covered under List/Tranche 3. Arguing that the Trade Act…

Our International Trade practice group has been blogging about a wide range of trade-related news and activities since November 2016, and in June 2018 we officially launched the “Trump and Trade” blog. However, our purview has always been broader than the executive branch; we also provide timely updates on legislation, trade remedy litigation, customs matters,…

On September 3, 2020, the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned numerous entities and persons for their reported involvement with the petroleum or petroleum sector of Iran. According to a press statement from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo,  the targeted entities and persons have “continued…

On August 28, 2020, President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation No. 10064 to adjust U.S. imports of steel from Brazil for national security reasons. In May 2018, President Trump granted an exemption for Brazilian steel products from additional tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which provides the president…

On September 1, 2020, the Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a joint advisory to alert persons to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (North Korea) ballistic missile procurement…