On August 13, the Trump Administration announced the “next steps” in implementation of the approximately $300 billion in additional tariffs set to go into effect September 1.  This fourth round of Section 301 tariffs (known as “List 4”) was originally announced on May 17; however, the USTR has now modified and separated that list into List 4A and List 4B. Several products (25 tariff lines in total) were removed from the lists following the public…

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)* recently cleared several investments and acquisitions involving foreign actors, giving businesses a small glimpse into which investment characteristics the interagency committee may be favoring in its clearance process. With last year’s passage of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), the scope of CFIUS’s oversight has expanded and the committee has become more frequently involved in acquisitions and investments by foreign actors. Earlier this…

It has been almost a year since the first round of Section 301 China tariffs went into effect on July 6, 2018.  Since that time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has reviewed thousands of product exclusion requests on Lists 1 and 2.  Granted product exclusions are retroactive to the date of the imposition of additional duties under Section 301, and extend for one year after the publication of the exclusion notice…

On November 30, 2018, the United States, Canada and Mexico took the first steps toward a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—now dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). However, the USMCA still faces the hurdles of ratification by the respective governments. In the United States, that means Congressional approval in accordance with the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Pursuant to the TPA timeline, the final text of the USMCA was published and a Statement of…

In OFAC’s guidance document that was released last week, OFAC made it clear that it will consider using its enforcement authority against the individuals involved in a sanctions violation, not just the entities. OFAC recognized that individual employees, particularly those in supervisory, managerial or executive level positions, have played a crucial role in facilitating or concealing violations of OFAC’s sanctions programs. The executives subject to OFAC’s jurisdiction are individuals at a company with a U.S.…

In a recent opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the US Court of International Trade’s (CIT) determination of the classification of certain hand tools imported by Irwin Industrial Tool Company (“Irwin”) as “pliers” over US Customs and Border Protection’s (“Customs”) classification of the tools as “wrenches.” The tools at issue were  variations of locking pliers, that is, two handled tools with two jaws that could grasp — and…

On April 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of State published an update to its List of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated with Cuba (Cuba Restricted List) adding five additional entities to the list. On June 16, 2017, the President signed the National Security Presidential Memorandum-5 on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba (NSPM-5). Soon after, on November 9, 2017, pursuant to NSPM-5, both the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets…