Photo of Scott E. Diamond**

Scott is a senior policy advisor with more than 25 years' experience with the legislative and regulatory processes involved in international trade policy, remedies and enforcement. This includes working with clients on matters involving export controls, economic sanctions, human rights and forced labor compliance, corporate anti-boycott and antibribery compliance, national security investigations, and foreign direct investment in the United States.

**Not licensed to practice law.

On February 20, 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it is seeking comments from the public to identify and address unfair and non-reciprocal foreign trade practices. This initiative is part of the broader America First Trade Policy Presidential Memorandum and the Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs Presidential Memorandum.

The

On February 14, 2025, the White House released annexes specifying steel (see page 24) and aluminum (see page 19) derivative items that will be subject to the 25% tariffs under Section 232, as announced by President Trump on February 10, 2025. For further details, refer to our blog post of February 12, 2025.

The

On February 6, 2025, the State Department republished the “Cuba Restricted List” identifying entities and subentities that are under the control of, or act for or on behalf of, the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel. The Cuba Restricted List is significant because direct financial transactions with the enumerated entities and subentities are

In a February 13, 2025 Memorandum, President Donald Trump instructed the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative, with input from other agencies, to initiate “all necessary actions to investigate the harm to the United States from any non-reciprocal trade arrangements adopted by any trading partners.” Upon completion of this investigation, the president

UPDATE: On February 14, the Federal Register released the formal Presidential Proclamations on the steel and aluminum tariffs that include the annexes for each Proclamation that detail the list of in-scope steel or aluminum articles and derivatives that will be subject to the 25% ad valorem tariffs. The links in this post have been updated

UPDATE: On February 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) addressing the additional duties placed on imports into the United States of products of China. The article below stated that use of duty-free de minimis treatment on imports for shipments under $800 was being removed for shipments from China. The president has since

On February 4, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) stating that Iran’s malign behavior and influence threaten the national interest of the United States and that it is “in the national interest to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program, and stop

UPDATE: On February 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) addressing the additional duties placed on imports into the United States of products of China. The article below stated that use of duty-free de minimis treatment on imports for shipments under $800 was being removed for shipments from China. The president has since

On January 24, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) revoking numerous EOs and actions implemented during the administration of former President Joseph Biden. Included in this action was the revocation of Executive Order 14115 of February 1, 2024 (Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank)