Latest updates
Section 301 tariff developments affect US importers
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 17 January 2020
Section 301 of the Trade Act authorises the president to take retaliatory action if it is determined that a trade act, policy or practice of a foreign government is unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts US commerce. December 2019 saw significant end-of-year developments on the Section 301 tariff front. US importers should take stock of these as they plan for 2020.
USMCA takes giant step towards ratification
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 03 January 2020
House Democrats and the Trump administration recently reached an agreement on the final text of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Once Canada and the United States have completed their ratification process, all three countries will move quickly to publish the critical uniform regulations. Company leaders must carefully follow these regulations, as they spell out new rules regarding USMCA compliance and preferential tariff treatment.
USTR opens new front in trade wars with proposed France duties
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 20 December 2019
The US Trade Representative recently announced that it has determined that France's digital services tax is unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts US commerce, and that it is proposing additional ad valorem duties of up to 100% on products from France under Section 301 of the Trade Act 1974. Parties seeking changes to the proposed list of tariff subheadings or lower duties should take advantage of the comment period.
Administration tests waters for unprecedented government review of international technology transactions
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 13 December 2019
Providers of telecoms, internet and digital services, as well as IT vendors and equipment manufacturers, will soon find doing deals with foreign entities a little more risky and complicated. A new review process soon to be underway at the Department of Commerce is designed to ferret out transactions that pose a threat to US national security, but provides parties whose deals are being evaluated little time to comment.
Transpacific Steel secures trade court win for security tariffs on steel from Turkey
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 29 November 2019
The US Court of International Trade recently denied the Trump administration's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by an importer challenging the government's use of a Cold War-era trade law to double national security tariffs on steel imports from Turkey. Transpacific Steel LLC had filed the lawsuit before the trade court in January 2019, arguing that the increase in tariffs was unlawful under the statute and violated the due process and equal protection requirements under the Constitution.
Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process now underway: don't miss the chance to lower your duty payments
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 08 November 2019
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently began accepting petitions as part of the 2019 Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process. Under this process, a member of the public may request that Congress temporarily eliminate or reduce duty on an imported article for three years. Petitions are due no later than 10 December 2019 at 5:15pm Eastern Standard Time via the ITC online portal.
BIS imposes further restrictions on Cuba and temporary sojourn licence exception
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 01 November 2019
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced another major policy change towards Cuba by further restricting the Cuban government's access to items subject to BIS's Export Administration Regulations. This new rule will have a significant impact on exporters and re-exporters currently using certain licence exceptions to export to Cuba that export non-US origin products with US-origin content to Cuba and lease commercial aircraft to Cuban state-owned airlines.
Treasury releases comprehensive rewrite of CFIUS regulations, flood of filings expected in 2020
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 25 October 2019
The Treasury Department, on behalf of the full Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), recently released the long-awaited comprehensive draft regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernisation Act. The regulations will significantly expand CFIUS's jurisdiction to cover a wider range of transactions, likely resulting in a dramatic spike in CFIUS reviews in 2020 and beyond.
Amorphous human rights due diligence for US exporters of surveillance items
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 18 October 2019
The US State Department recently solicited feedback on its draft US Government Guidance for the Export of Hardware, Software and Technology with Surveillance Capabilities and/or Parts/Know-How. The draft guidance aims to provide insight to exporters on the considerations to weigh prior to exporting items with intended and unintended surveillance capabilities and could foreshadow new export controls and a US State Department review.
CFIUS 2.0: real estate as a platform for foreign espionage against the government?
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 11 October 2019
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is finalising its draft regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernisation Act 2018 (FIRRMA). FIRRMA overhauled the operations and jurisdiction of CFIUS, but one aspect of the new law that has received little attention is the expansion of CFIUS's jurisdiction to cover a broader range of real estate transactions.
Round-up on Section 301 China tariffs: new tariffs, new deadlines, new uncertainty
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 04 October 2019
List 4A goes into effect, all Section 301 tariffs are to increase by 5%, the US Trade Representative deadlines loom and the president has ordered US companies to "search for alternatives" to China sourcing. This is your end-of-summer Section 301 China tariffs round-up.
European Commission issues notice on recovery of unlawful and incompatible state aid
Matheson- European Union
- 04 October 2019
The European Commission recently published a new notice on the implementation of its decisions ordering the recovery of state aid. The recovery notice is far more detailed than the 2007 notice which it replaces and reflects recent developments in European Commission practice, including by providing more detail on tax state aid cases. For example, the notice provides new detailed guidance on issues such as the quantification of the state aid to be recovered.
Experimental system launched to trace imported products
Gorodissky & Partners- Russia
- 27 September 2019
In May 2019 an interstate agreement was concluded within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, under which it was agreed to introduce a system to enable certain categories of imported goods to be traced. Now, Russia has launched an experimental version of such system, which will remain in place until 31 December 2019. Among other things, the system is expected to lead to a reduction in the level of record falsification in the market and better control the payment of taxes.
Steeling for uncertainty
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 20 September 2019
Throughout the past few months, the United States and China have levied new tariffs, increased existing tariffs and imposed ever-higher retaliatory tariffs. Now, nearly all of the two countries' enormous bilateral trade is subject to double-digit tariffs. In this era of uncertainty, company executives understand that due diligence must be based on a fulsome understanding of the threat that lies ahead. As such, corporate leaders must take proper pre-emptive action and enlist expert legal advice.
New Huawei rule: what it means for US companies
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 06 September 2019
Among other recent blows to Huawei, the Department of Defence, the General Services Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have issued an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement a key provision of the John S McCain National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2019. In light of this, US companies should carefully review their transactions with Chinese tech companies to ensure that they do not fall foul of any prohibitions.
Not a full-on embargo, but decision to freeze government assets makes trade with Venezuela tricky
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 30 August 2019
President Trump recently signed an executive order, freezing all assets in which the Venezuelan government has an interest that are in US hands and prohibiting US persons from conducting transactions with the Venezuelan government, unless specifically exempted or authorised. Although this is not an embargo on all trade with Venezuela, the executive order goes substantially further than the previous sanctions.
Trump announces 10% tariff on $300 billion of imports from China for List 4 goods
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 23 August 2019
President Trump recently tweeted that, beginning on 1 September 2019, importers can expect a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods. While the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has yet to issue specific coverage for this new 10% tariff, importers should expect to see the goods subject to it on the proposed Section 301 List 4. The USTR has also indicated that a List 4 exclusion request process could come on the heels of the current List 3 exclusion request timetable.
Second shoe drops on US chem-bio sanctions on Russia: did anyone hear it?
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 16 August 2019
The US State Department recently announced the issuance of another round of sanctions on the Russian government in relation to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act 1991, which will come into effect on 19 August 2019. While this second round of sanctions is unlikely to affect most US companies, it may affect US banks, but only with respect to transactions involving non-ruble bonds and funds from the Russian sovereign issued after 26 August 2019.
Reforming US secondary sanctions: what is wrong that can be righted?
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 26 July 2019
US secondary sanctions are sanctions that the United States can apply to wholly non-US actors in wholly non-US transactions of which the US administration disapproves. A sanctioned individual or entity can be put on the Specially Designated Nationals list, but there is no well-defined numerical threshold for imposing sanctions. This article identifies some of the problems with the application of secondary sanctions and offers some potential solutions.
July update on China Section 301 tariffs: latest from China-US talks
Arent Fox LLP- USA
- 19 July 2019
At a recent G20 Summit press conference, President Trump said that he would not lift the existing Section 301 tariffs on China, but would also not add tariffs on any additional Chinese imports "for at least the time being" as part of an agreement to resume negotiations with China. This article summarises the current status of the Section 301 List 4 goods and the List 3 product exclusion process which commenced on 30 June 2019.
