The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing the initiation of an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into the French government’s planned Digital Services Tax (DST). On March 6, 2019, France released a proposal for a 3 percent levy on revenues that certain companies
Trade Remedy/Enforcement
Webinar Recording: Caught in the U.S.-China Trade War Crossfire – A Tariff Survival Guide
If you weren’t able to join us but would still like to have the information, here is a recording of our webinar on strategies to help companies deal with the U.S.-China trade war:
President Trump Signs Executive Order Imposing Further Sanctions on Iran
Following a week of escalating tensions, allegations that Iran attacked two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Iran’s threat to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium, and its acknowledged downing of an unmanned U.S. drone, President Donald Trump responded on June 24, 2019 by issuing an executive order sanctioning the Supreme Leader of Iran,…
U.S. Government Adds Five Chinese Entities to Entity List
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has determined that five Chinese companies are acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States and thus pose a significant risk. In a Federal Register notice, BIS announced that it has placed the following companies on the Entity…
Department of the Treasury Sanctions Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company
On June 7, 2019, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group, Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC). In addition to PGPIC, OFAC placed 39 PGPIC subsidiaries and foreign-based sales agents on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. According to OFAC, PGPIC was sanctioned for having…
Trump Administration Further Restricts Travel to Cuba
On June 5, 2019, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) undertook coordinated actions to further restrict travel to Cuba “in order to hold the Cuban regime accountable for its repression of the Cuban people and its support of the…
USTR Releases Notice of Additional China Section 301 Product Exclusions
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released notice of its fifth batch of China Section 301 product exclusion approvals that will relieve impacted U.S. importers from the 25 percent tariff implemented on certain imports from China July 6, 2018. These approved exclusions cover 464 exclusion requests and are established in two different…
USTR Announces Delay in Implementing 25% Tariffs on Tranche 3 Products from China
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced that it is extending the amount of time certain goods exported from China will have to enter the United States before an additional Section 301 tariff increase from 10 percent to 25 percent is imposed. As we reported on May 9, President Donald Trump…
Trump Administration Further Tightens Economic Sanctions and Trade Restrictions on Venezuela
During the month of May while President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China was garnering most of the headlines, the Trump administration also continued to apply economic pressure on Venezuela. In May, the Departments of Commerce, State and the Treasury further tightened sanctions and export restrictions on Venezuela.
On May 10, 2019, the Department of State announced that, pursuant to Executive Order 13850, the United States determined persons operating in the defense and security sector of the Venezuelan economy may be subject to economic sanctions. On the same date, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two companies that operate in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy, and also sanctioned two vessels, which transported oil from Venezuela to Cuba:
- Monsoon Navigation Corporation is based in Majuro, Marshall Islands, and is the registered owner of the vessel, Ocean Elegance.
- Ocean Elegance is a crude oil tanker (IMO: 9038749) that delivered crude oil from Venezuela to Cuba from late 2018 through March 2019.
- Serenity Maritime Limited is based in Monrovia, Liberia, and is the registered owner of the vessel, Leon Dias.
- Leon Dias is a chemical and oil tanker (IMO: 9396385) that delivered crude oil from Venezuela to Cuba from late 2018 through March 2019.
Department of Commerce’s Proposed Rule to Allow Currency Manipulation and Undervaluation as Countervailable Subsidy
In a proposed rule scheduled for publication in the May 28, 2019 Federal Register, the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is proposing to modify two regulations that would clarify how ITA determines the existence of a benefit resulting from a subsidy in the form of currency manipulation and undervaluation and how companies in the traded goods sector of an economy can constitute a group of enterprises for purposes of determining whether a subsidy is specific. In a Commerce press release, Secretary Wilbur Ross stated, “This change puts foreign exporters on notice that the Department of Commerce can countervail currency subsidies that harm U.S. industries … Foreign nations would no longer be able to use currency policies to the disadvantage of American workers and businesses.”