On April 6, 2022, President Joseph Biden issued Executive Order, “Prohibiting New Investment in and Certain Services to the Russian Federation in Response to Continued Russian Federation Aggression” (the “April 6, 2022 EO”) , further expanding sanctions against Russia, including measures to ban new investments in Russia and authorizations to prohibit the provision of…

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Final Rule adding 120 Russian and Belarusian companies to the Entity List. Ninety-five companies (24 Belarusian entities and 71 Russian entities) are being added as they have been determined to be “military end users.” These entities will also be subject to the Russia/Belarus…

On March 31, 2022, President Joseph Biden issued Presidential Determination No. 2022-11 invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) to ensure a sufficient and sustainable domestic industrial base for the production of large-capacity batteries. Stating that the United States “depends on unreliable foreign sources for many of the strategic and critical materials necessary for…

On April 1, 2022, the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued its opinion in the China Section 301 tariff refund litigation regarding the government defendants’ motion to dismiss and the plaintiffs’ cross-motion for judgment on the record. The CIT found that: (1) the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)…

On March 31, 2022, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen released a Determination expanding the scope of Section 1(a)(i) of Executive Order 14024 to include aerospace, electronics and marine sectors of the Russian economy as being within the scope of the Executive Order.  This Executive Order has been relied upon extensively to implement sanctions against…

On March 30, 2022, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai appeared before the House Ways & Means Committee to discuss President Joseph Biden’s 2022 trade agenda. In Ambassador Tai’s written testimony, she primarily focused on the U.S.-China trade relationship. Ambassador Tai highlighted ongoing talks with China over trade distortions and imbalances, including China’s failure to…

On March 24, 2022, President Joseph Biden announced further sanctions toward Russia involving more than 400 individuals and entities, including the Russian Duma and its members, several additional Russian oligarchs, and numerous Russian defense companies.  The sanctions were carried out pursuant to Executive Order 14024 which authorizes sanctions against Russia for its harmful foreign activities. …

On March 23, 2022, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it was reinstating certain previously granted and extended product exclusions in the China Section 301 investigation. Per the Federal Register notice, USTR has reinstated 352 of the 549 eligible exclusions identified in the October 8, 2021 USTR Federal Register notice…

On March 22, 2022, the United States and the United Kingdom reached agreement on allowing “sustainable volumes” of UK steel and aluminum products to enter the U.S. market without the application of Section 232 tariffs. The Joint Statement notes that both the United States and UK will monitor steel and aluminum trade between the countries…