On August 10, 2018, President Trump announced on Twitter that the United States would double Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey, referencing the drop of the Turkish lira as his reason for hiking the tariffs. Later that day, the White House issued a presidential proclamation directing that a 50 percent ad valorem tariff…

President Trump has signed into law the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Title XVII of the NDAA). The FIRRMA expands the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to address national security concerns over foreign exploitation of certain investment structures that traditionally have fallen outside of CFIUS jurisdiction. Additionally, FIRRMA modernizes CFIUS’s processes to better enable timely and effective reviews of covered transactions.

As reported by Law360 this week, a California federal judge struck down a food additive exporter’s attempt to throw out claims saying it had smuggled glycine into the United States from China without paying more than $11 million in required duties, calling the exporter’s use of the Fifth Amendment “both a sword and shield.”

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The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has finalized and released its second list of Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings totaling approximately $16 billion worth of imports from China that will be subject to a 25 percent retaliatory tariff as part of the U.S. government’s ongoing Section 301 investigation and response to China’s…

In connection with President Donald Trump’s May 8, 2018 decision to cease U.S. participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and to re-impose all sanctions lifted or waived in connection with the JCPOA, the president has issued a new Iran-related Executive Order, “Reimposing Certain Sanctions With Respect to Iran.” This completes the first of two wind-down periods for the re-imposition of certain Iranian sanctions. The terms in the Executive Order are effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on August 7, 2018. In addition, certain wind-down general licenses that allowed limited continued actions involving Iran will expire at 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 6, 2018.

The Department of Commerce has announced the initiation of a Section 232 investigation into whether the present quantity and circumstances of uranium ore and product imports into the United States threaten to impair national security. The decision was in response to a petition filed by two U.S. uranium mining companies and consultations with industry stakeholders, members of Congress, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and other interested parties. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis informing him of the initiation of the investigation.

On July 13, 2018, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security issued an order terminating the April 15, 2018 Denial Order against Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. (collectively, ZTE). The order confirms that ZTE paid the $1 billion penalty and complied with the requirement of depositing $400 million in…

What a week for U.S.-China trade relations! On July 6, the United States began imposing 25 percent tariffs on approximately $34 billion worth of Chinese products imported into the United States. China then retaliated by imposing tariffs of its own on $34 billion worth of U.S. exports to China, which the United States called “inappropriate”…

As reported in a Trump and Trade Update dated June 8, 2018, the Department of Commerce reached a superseding settlement agreement with Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation of Shenzhen, China (ZTE Corporation) and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. of Hi-New Shenzhen, China (ZTE Kangxun) (collectively, ZTE) to remove the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) denial order imposed as a result of ZTE’s violations of its March 2017 settlement agreement. BIS has now published the superseding settlement agreement.

As reported in a prior post, the United States on July 6, 2018 began imposing 25 percent tariffs on approximately $34 billion worth of Chinese products imported into the United States. This was the result of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) undertaking a Section 301 investigation into “China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.” Shortly after these tariffs were implemented, China retaliated by imposing tariffs on $34 billion worth of U.S. exports to China. In response, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced yesterday, July 10, 2018, “As a result of China’s retaliation and failure to change its practices, the President has ordered USTR to begin the process of imposing tariffs of 10 percent on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports.” He added, “For over a year, the Trump Administration has patiently urged China to stop its unfair practices, open its market, and engage in true market competition. We have been very clear and detailed regarding the specific changes China should undertake. Unfortunately, China has not changed its behavior – behavior that puts the future of the U.S. economy at risk. Rather than address our legitimate concerns, China has begun to retaliate against U.S. products. There is no justification for such action.”