Introduction On 11 January 2019 and 18 January 2019, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) and the European Commission (“Commission”) released their respective negotiating objectives for a U.S.-EU trade agreement, potentially marking a new phase in the transatlantic trade relationship.  The release follows from the joint agenda agreed to in July 2018 by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. President Donald Trump to work together toward “zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies…

Yesterday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) listed Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PdVSA”) as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) pursuant to its authority under Executive Order 13850. As a result of the designation, all property and interests in PdVSA property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the entity and its 50-percent owned subsidiaries. Concurrent with the designation, OFAC amended one existing and issued…

On January 22nd, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts estimated that federal courts can sustain paid operations through January 31, 2019 – but “no further extensions beyond February 1st will be possible.”  See https://www.uscourts.gov/judiciary-news. This deadline had previously been extended from January 18th to January 25th; see https://www.ustrademonitor.com/2019/01/jan-16-2019-update-on-government-shutdowns-impact-on-federal-court-system/ and https://www.ustrademonitor.com/2019/01/government-shutdown-closes-in-on-the-federal-court-system-including-the-trade-courts/. If the shutdown continues after the courts’ existing funds expire, it’s difficult to predict what will actually happen, given that all previous shutdowns…

On January 16th, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced that it “now estimates that federal courts can sustain paid operations through Jan. 25, 2019” (extending its previous estimate by one week).  See https://www.uscourts.gov/judiciary-news See also Jan. 11, 2019 Trade and Manufacturing’s Blog entitled:  “Government shutdown closes in on the federal court system (including the trade courts)” available at: https://www.ustrademonitor.com/2019/01/government-shutdown-closes-in-on-the-federal-court-system-including-the-trade-courts/…

Despite the partial government shutdown since December 22nd, the Supreme Court and lower federal courts have remained open by drawing on non-appropriated funds and court fees. Federal courts will be able to continue operating with their limited funds during the shutdown until January 18th, as reported on January 7th by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (“Administrative Office”).  See https://www.uscourts.gov/judiciary-news.  This deadline is one week longer than its previous estimate.  To meet this…