The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined that increased imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells (whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products) are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury to the U.S. solar equipment industry. After its 4-0…

President Trump has issued a new executive order implementing further sanctions in response to North Korea’s “provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions,” particularly its recent intercontinental ballistic missile launches and its nuclear test of September 2, 2017. The new sanctions, to be implemented by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), target…

Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Elaine Duke has issued a Binding Operational Directive (BOD 17-01) directing federal executive branch departments and agencies to take actions related to the use or presence of information security products, solutions and services supplied directly or indirectly by AO Kaspersky Lab or related entities. The directive…

The United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously passed resolution 2375 (2017) on Monday, further sanctioning the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for its most recent nuclear test, and reaffirmed that North Korea must immediately suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile and nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. This latest round…

Less than a week after President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to determine whether to investigate China regarding certain intellectual property and technology transfer issues, USTR Robert Lighthizer formally initiated a Section 301 investigation into the matter on August 18, 2017. In announcing the investigation, he stated that, “[a]fter…

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated 16 Chinese and Russian entities and individuals for activities related to the support of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. These sanctions intentionally target third-country companies and individuals that (1) assist already-designated persons who support North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, (2) deal…

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal have started the first round of NAFTA renegotiation in Washington, D.C. with opening statements and an ambitious agenda that is scheduled to take the negotiations through August 20.

In his opening statement, Lighthizer indicated…

Asserting in a presidential memorandum that “Violations of intellectual property rights and other unfair technology transfers potentially threaten United States firms by undermining their ability to compete fairly in the global market,” President Trump has directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to investigate any of China’s laws, policies, practices or actions that may be unreasonable…

Today, President Trump signed into law the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which strengthens and expands statutory sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. In a statement released by the White House, the president said, “I favor tough measures to punish and deter bad behavior by the rogue regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang. I…