On November 25, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice announcing that it will hold a virtual public hearing on December 28, 2020, in its ongoing investigation into Vietnam’s acts, policies and practices related to its import and use of illegally harvested or traded timber. See Update of
USTR Will Hold Public Hearing in Section 301 Investigation into Vietnamese Currency Valuation
On November 25, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice announcing that it will hold a virtual public hearing on December 29, 2020, in its ongoing investigation into Vietnam’s currency valuation. See Update of October 6, 2020. A written request to appear at the hearing must be
BIS Draft Rule Reportedly Lists, and May Further Restrict Exports with, Chinese and Russian Companies with Military Connections
In an early confidential draft of a proposed rule that BIS has shared with a technical advisory committee of industry representatives, trade press is reporting that the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) may seek to restrict export transactions with 89 Chinese and 28 Russian companies that are owned or controlled by
OFAC Issues Venezuela General License No. 8G to Continue Authorization of Limited Transactions Involving PdVSA and Winding Down of Operations for Certain Entities
On November 17, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Venezuela-related General License 8G, “Authorizing Transactions Involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) Necessary for the Limited Maintenance of Essential Operations in Venezuela or the Wind Down of Operations in Venezuela for Certain Entities.” This general license continues to
EU Implements Retaliatory Tariffs in WTO Large Civil Aircraft Dispute
On November 9, 2020, the EU, pursuant to World Trade Organization (WTO) authorization, applied approximately $4 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in the latest chapter of the long-running dispute between the EU and the United States over government subsidies provided to both Boeing and Airbus. This retaliation follows an October 2020 WTO
BIS Proposes Controls on Another Emerging Technology: Genetic Element Design Software
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a proposed rule to add certain genetic element design software to the Commerce Control List. Specifically, on November 6, 2020, BIS issued a proposal to add “software” for the operation of nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers already controlled under ECCN 2B352 that is capable of designing
United States and Mexico Reach Agreement on Exports of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel; Mexico to Be Excluded from any Related Section 232 Actions
On November 5, 2020, the United States and Mexico announced that they had concluded consultations pursuant to their Joint Statement of May 17, 2019 to address the transshipment of grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) from outside North America into the United States through GOES-containing downstream products. The May 2019 Statement committed Mexico (and Canada) to implement
OFAC Restricts Remittances to and from Cuba to Exclude Entities on Cuba Restricted List
On October 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a final rule in the Federal Register amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) to remove from the scope of generally authorized remittances any transactions involving “entities or subentities” identified on the U.S. Department of State’s Cuba Restricted
CBP Issues Forced Labor Finding of Imported Stevia Product from China
On October 20, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a finding determining that stevia extracts and derivatives, mined, produced, or manufactured in the People’s Republic of China (China) by the Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Group Baoanzhao Agriculture, Industry, and Trade Co., Ltd. (Baoanzhao) with the use of convict, forced or indentured labor, are being,
In Section 301 Tariff Refund Litigation, the DOJ Files Motion for Case Management Procedures
On October 19, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion before the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) in the matter of HMTX Industries LLC, et al. v. United States of America, et al. asking that the CIT adopt case management procedures to administer not only this case but also the approximately 3,600