U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued five Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) relating to its June 23, 2021 Withhold Release Order (WRO) requiring U.S. ports to detain shipments of silica-based products and materials as well as goods derived from those products manufactured by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries (“Hoshine”). Hoshine operates
Plaintiffs File Cross-Motion for Judgment on Agency Record and Response to Government’s Motion to Dismiss in the China Section 301 Tariff Refund Litigation
On August 2, 2021, the plaintiff group in the ongoing Section 301 tariff refund litigation at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) filed a Cross-Motion for Judgment on the Agency Record and a Response to the Government’s Motion to Dismiss. In seeking judgment and asking that the government defendants’ motion be denied, the
Commerce Releases Uranium Section 232 National Security Report
Two years after former President Donald Trump announced that he would decline to take any further action on uranium imports despite a finding that uranium was being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States (see Update of
Commerce Releases Electrical Transformers Section 232 National Security Report
On May 4, 2020, former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the initiation of a Section 232 investigation into whether certain transformer components used in electrical power grids are imported in quantities that threaten national security. See SmarTrade Update of May 11, 2020. The investigation focused on transformers and transformer components (i.e.,
Commerce Releases Vanadium Section 232 National Security Report
On June 2, 2020, former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the initiation of a Section 232 investigation into whether the quantities or circumstances of imports of vanadium into the United States threaten to impair U.S. national security. This investigation was the result of a petition filed by U.S. producers AMG Vanadium LLC (Cambridge, Ohio)
CIT Again Adjusts Deadlines in Section 301 Tariff Refund Litigation
On August 2, 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) held a status conference and issued its second order revising certain deadlines originally established in its July 6 decision and order granting the plaintiff group’s motion for a preliminary injunction in the ongoing Section 301 tariff refund litigation involving imports of certain Chinese products.
Commerce Releases Titanium Sponge Section 232 National Security Report
Nearly a year and a half after former President Donald Trump declined to impose Section 232 tariffs on imports of titanium sponge (see Update of February 28, 2020), the Department of Commerce has released its full public report on the investigation, which found that these imports indeed threatened to impair the national security
OFAC Sanctions Cuban Officials and Entities for Repression of Protestors
On July 22 and again on July 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned several Cuban individuals and entities in connection with actions to suppress peaceful, pro-democratic protests in Cuba that began on July 11, 2021. According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, “The Cuban people are protesting
OFAC and Online Money Transmitter Enter Settlement Agreement for Apparent Violations of U.S. Sanctions
On July 23, 2021, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a settlement agreement with Payoneer Inc. (“Payoneer”), a publicly traded New York-based online money transmitter and provider of prepaid access. Payoneer agreed to pay a civil penalty of approximately $1.4 million to settle its potential liability for 2,260 apparent
CIT Adjusts Deadlines in Section 301 Tariff Refund Litigation
On July 20, 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued an order revising certain deadlines established in its July 6 decision and order granting the plaintiff group’s motion for a preliminary injunction in the ongoing Section 301 tariff refund litigation involving imports of certain Chinese products. The preliminary injunction suspended liquidation of unliquidated