On April 17, 2025, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced targeted actions “to restore American shipbuilding” after its determination that China was implementing “unreasonable acts, policies, and practices to dominate the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors.” Although the specific details of the targeted actions differ from USTR’s proposed actions (see Update
Supply Chain
Trump Announces Reciprocal Tariffs on Over 60 Countries
UPDATED: This blog post has been updated with additional information and links upon the release of the Annexes to the Executive Order. Readers should note that the breadth and depth of this Executive Order and the implementation of these tariffs is unprecedented, thus the situation regarding interpretation and their implementation remains fluid. It is expected…
USTR Releases President Trump’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda and 2024 Annual Report
On March 3, 2025, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) delivered President Donald Trump’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda, 2024 Annual Report, and World Trade Organization at Thirty report to Congress. This year’s trade agenda seeks to strengthen the middle class and national defense and to address trade deficits by focusing on a “Production…
BIS Publishes Final Rule Prohibiting the Sale and Importation of Connected Vehicles with Sufficient Nexus to China and Russia
On January 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule prohibiting the sale and importation of connected vehicles incorporating certain hardware and software components (or those components sold separately) with a sufficient nexus to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or Russia. The new prohibitions go into…
DHS Updates UFLPA Entity List with Additional Chinese Companies; USTR Releases Trade Strategy to Combat Forced Labor
On January 14, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of 37 companies based in China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, bringing the total number of entities on the UFLPA Entity List to nearly 150 entities.
According to a press release by DHS, the entities added include globally recognized…
USTR Initiates Section 301 Investigation into Nicaragua’s Labor Rights and Human Rights Practices
On December 10, 2024, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced it was initiating an investigation into Nicaragua’s acts, policies, and practices related to labor rights, human rights, and the rule of law. The investigation will be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and is the first under Section…
CBP Issues Forced Labor Finding Concerning Aluminum Products Made by Chinese-owned Company in Dominican Republic
On December 4, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a forced labor finding concerning aluminum extrusions and profile products produced wholly or in part by Kingtom Aluminio S.R.L. (“Kingtom”), a Chinese-owned aluminum extruder in the Dominican Republic. Effective December 4, CBP will seize any articles that are covered by CBP’s forced labor finding…
DHS Updates UFLPA Entity List with Additional Chinese Companies
On November 22, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of 29 companies based in China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, bringing the total number of entities on the UFLPA Entity List to 107. The newly identified and listed companies are involved in (i) electronic materials and…
DHS Updates UFLPA Entity List with Additional Chinese Textile Companies
On October 31, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that effective November 1, 2024, four textile Chinese entities have been added to the UFLPA Entity List. These entities have been determined by DHS to be facilities and entities that source material from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or from persons working with the…
Department of Labor Updates List of Goods Produced by Forced Labor
On September 5, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a revised version of its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. This 2024 report identifies the types of goods, the industries involved and the countries that the DOL has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor…