In a series of tweets posted on May 5, President Trump threatened to raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10% to 25%, effective this Friday, May 10. He further threatened a 25% tariff on an additional $325 billion of Chinese goods that are currently untaxed, stating it could happen “shortly.” It is unclear whether U.S. officials will actually impose the substantial tariff change this coming Friday, or if it is simply a…

On April 3, President Trump signed a memorandum calling for the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a report with recommendations to prevent the trafficking and sale of counterfeit goods in the American marketplace. The Department of Homeland Security is to work with the Commerce Department, the attorney general, and other federal agencies to prepare the report within 210 days. The memorandum requests the report to “identify appropriate administrative, statutory, regulatory, or other changes, including…

According to recent WSJ reporting , immigration issues at the Mexico-US border are disrupting commercial trade, as US Customs and Border Patrol agents who typically handle trade traffic have been redirected to migrant issues. This redistribution of resources has reportedly caused a pile up of truck traffic and delay of inspections for agricultural and automotive components. This has reportedly resulted in an estimated tens of millions of dollars in losses for supply chain partners. Who…

In Ratha v. Phatthana Seafood Co. Ltd., Cambodian plaintiffs sued various companies under the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), alleging that the companies benefitted from human trafficking in the shrimp and seafood industries in Thailand. A California district court found that the claims against certain defendants failed because those companies did not knowingly participate in or benefit from human trafficking; that decision is now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Bloomberg Law’s Federal Contracting News examines the significance of the case for government contractors and large…

As the past few years have made very clear, political issues have the potential to impact supply chains.  Squire Patton Boggs’ Public Policy Practice has created a 30-day outlook for the upcoming US Midterm Elections. The overview—which includes updated polling, party funding comparisons, and a discussion of races that are considered “toss ups”—is now live on our web site, accessible through the following link: https://www.squirepattonboggs.com/en/insights/publications/misc/2018-us-midterm-elections-overview.  This overview will be updated periodically leading up to…

2018 has produced a tight labor market for many manufacturers.  Particularly in the electronics, aerospace, and trucking/automotive sectors, skilled laborers are becoming increasingly difficult to find.  As a consequence, many manufacturers are finding themselves in a position where they are unable to perform contracts that have any degree of complexity without a level of scrap and/or corrective action that renders the contract uneconomical – because they don’t have skilled workers capable of shepherding these difficult…

On May 8, President Trump announced that the US is withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) entered among the P5+1 countries (the US, China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK), the European Union and Iran in July 2015. In our publication, we provide an overview of upcoming changes to US sanctions policy toward Iran and how they could impact business operations worldwide.…