Insights on International Trade & Investment

The release on December 12, 2019, of the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration (the BHR Rules) offers a new and innovative dispute resolution option in the field of corporate responsibility.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced a plan to crack down on the sales of contraband and counterfeit goods online. The steps will affect a number of parties in the supply chain from importers and sellers to customs brokers and forwarders to e-commerce providers.

Employing foreign nationals in this uncertain and ever-changing immigration climate can be daunting.

On January 15, 2020, President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Hu signed the long-awaited US-China Trade Agreement after nearly two years of a trade war that has resulted in crippling tariffs on almost $500 billion worth of bilateral trade.

Our readers will be aware that the USMCA (CUSMA) is on track for US ratification and – by most accounts – will come into force possibly as early as mid-2020. This is not a lot of time for company executives to prepare. In addition, the three USMCA Partners will soon be meeting to set USMCA implement

On January 13, 2020, the Treasury Department, on behalf of the full Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), released the comprehensive final regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). The final regulations take effect on February 13,

Third-country companies doing business with Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing, or textiles sectors are now at increased risk of being sanctioned.

An importer of Giorgio Armani apparel secured victory from the Court of International Trade (CIT) in its dispute with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over whether the importer was required under the US customs laws to pay duties on advertising fees and trademark royalty fees as part of the va

The USCIS has significantly changed the way it will conduct its annual H-1B lottery this year, and, although many questions remain as to the exact logistics, one detail has been confirmed. 

After a year plus of waiting on pins and needles, the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed controls on its first “emerging technology” – software specially designed to automate the analysis of geospatial imagery.

In a surprise holiday present, the State Department finally brought the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) into the 21st century by releasing an Interim Final Rule adopting cloud computing encryption standards that the Commerce Department adopted in 2015. Well, better late than never.

Arent Fox Partner Kay Georgi will present at the Canadian Institute’s US Export & Reexport Compliance For Canadian Operations Conference.

In FIRRMA and ECRA, Congress essentially gave Commerce authority to decide how narrowly or widely to set the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over non-passive minority investments involving emerging and foundational technologies.

Earlier today, House Democrats appeared before cameras on Capitol Hill to announce they had reached an agreement with the Trump Administration on the final text of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Potential products subject to the additional duties are provided in a preliminary list of 63 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings with an estimated import trade value of approximately $2.4 billion.

US Government Plans to Evaluate Technology Services Transactions to Protect Against “Foreign Adversary” Threats and May Block or Undo Transactions

WASHINGTON, DC – On November 15, the US Court of International Trade 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.

Arent Fox Attorney Russell Semmel will speak at the 20th Judicial Conference of the United States Court of International Trade hosted on November 18, 2019 in Washington, DC.

IP Partner Pamela M. Deese is a featured speaker at the Brand Protection Summit, co-hosted by CounterFind and Warner Music Group on November 7th, 2019 in New York.

Twenty-five Arent Fox LLP practices have been recognized in the 2020 “Best Law Firms” rankings that are published annually by US News & World Report and Best Lawyers.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) has established a process for interested parties to request that particular products be excluded from these tariffs, which has now closed for the first three lists and is gearing up for the fourth.

On October 23, the President asked the Department of the Treasury to lift previously imposed sanctions against Turkey following the cessation of Turkey’s offensive in Syria and the implementation of a lasting ceasefire.

On October 11, 2019, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) began accepting petitions as part of the 2019 Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) process.

BIS has restricted Cuba’s access to commercial aircraft and other goods, lowered de minimis for foreign items containing US content to 10%, and restricted the temporary sojourn by aircraft in Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea, as well as Cuba. 

The EO is sweeping in scope and will have a significant impact on US companies doing business with Turkey.