On January 24, 2022, the Department of Commerce issued a Federal Register notice requesting information that will assist the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to guide programs designed to support a strong domestic semiconductor industry. The notice seeks public comment that will “inform the planning and design of potential programs to incentivize investment…

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a “Notice of Finding” in which it has determined that certain palm oil and derivative products made wholly or in part with palm oil produced by Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, its subsidiaries, and joint ventures with the use of convict, forced or indentured labor, are…

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced its extension of two general licenses related to GAZ Group, Ukraine-related General License No. 13Q, “Authorizing Certain Transactions Necessary to Divest or Transfer Debt, Equity, or Other Holdings in GAZ Group” and Ukraine-related General License No. 15K, “Authorizing Certain Activities…

On January 24, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (Task Force), issued a request for public comments on “how best to ensure that goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People’s Republic of China are…

On January 12, 2022, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced it was delaying implementation of rules establishing new controls on certain cybersecurity items for National Security (NS) and Anti-terrorism (AT) reasons, along with a new License Exception, Authorized Cybersecurity Exports (ACE).  In October 2021, BIS released this Interim Final Rule…

On January 5, 2022, the multi-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) announced its determination that two countries – Australia and Canada – “have made significant progress toward establishing and effectively utilizing a robust process to analyze foreign investments for national security risks and to facilitate coordination with the United States on…

On December 29, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued several guidance documents through its Cargo Systems Messaging Service concerning recent Presidential Proclamations that established the tariff rate quota (TRQ) process for imports of aluminum and steel articles from the member countries of the European Union (EU). See Update of December 29, 2021 for…

On December 28, 2021, Presidential Proclamation 10326 directing the modification of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) was published in the Federal Register, triggering the 30-day implementation process.  As previously reported — see Update of November 23, 2021 — the recommended HTSUS modifications will primarily update the HTSUS to conform to…

On December 28, 2021, President Joseph Biden issued two proclamations – Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States and Adjusting Imports of Aluminum into the United States.  In each proclamation, the president acknowledged that:

“the United States has successfully concluded discussions with the EU [European Union] on behalf of its member countries on…