Section 301 Investigations

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On January 15, 2021, barely two weeks after holding a public hearing into the matter and just over three months after initiating an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued its findings regarding Vietnam’s currency valuation. USTR found that “Vietnam’s acts, policies, and…

On January 14, 2021, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Federal Register notice announcing the addition and removal of certain Chinese and Russian entities from the Entity List and the Military End-User (MEU) List.

Notably, BIS added China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. to the Entity List for its…

On January 15, 2021, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published in the Federal Register final regulations to implement a July 14, 2020 Hong Kong-related Executive Order. In Executive Order 13936, President Donald Trump determined that Hong Kong was no longer sufficiently autonomous from the People’s Republic of China…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued findings in three more Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the reports, the USTR found that each of the DSTs  “discriminates against U.S. companies, is inconsistent with prevailing principles of international taxation, and burden…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued findings in its Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by India, Italy and Turkey.  In each report, the USTR found that the DSTs: (i) create “a significant new tax burden for U.S. companies, [and] taxes an unusually broad array of digital services”;…

Key Notes:

  • The ban is effective January 11, 2021.
  • Executive Order 13959 bans U.S. persons from transacting in publicly traded securities or derivatives or similar securities of publicly traded Chinese companies designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as enabling Chinese military aims.
  • OFAC has identified, and will continue to add, subsidiaries of the named

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While the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) was set to impose additional import duties of 25 percent starting January 6, 2021, these retaliatory tariffs have now been further suspended according to a press release. These additional tariffs on certain products from France are in response to that country’s continued collection of a…

On January 5, 2021, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring that beginning on February 19, 2021, “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with persons that develop or control the following Chinese connected software applications, or with their subsidiaries, … :…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced that it is extending until March 31, 2021, Section 301 tariff exclusions for imports of certain Chinese medical care products needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective January 1, 2021, Section 301 tariff exclusions have been extended for a variety of Chinese medical care products,…