The European Parliament today voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting a regulation banning all products made with forced labor from the European Union, with 555 votes in favor, 6 votes against, and 45 abstentions. The approval comes a little over a month after the Parliament and the European Council reached a deal on a draft text of the proposed regulation, which grants the European Commission the authority to investigate “suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufacturers” originating outside of the EU for the possible use of forced labor. All cases internal to the EU will be handled by the ..read more

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) has published proposed regulatory amendments that, if implemented, would expand CFIUS’s authority to seek information for non-notified transactions, establish timelines for parties to respond to CFIUS’s mitigation proposals, and increase penalties for certain violations to the greater of $5 million or the value of the transaction. Click here to continue reading the full version of this alert ..read more

The House Ways & Means Committee is set to review a slate of bills addressing trade with China, among which is a bill to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”)—which expired in 2020—until 2030. The “Generalized System of Preferences Reform Act” proposes the “largest reforms to the GSP program since inception,” including permanently banning China from eligibility for GSP treatment. The bill would also update other product eligibility criteria, increasing the rule of origin (“ROO”) requirement from 35 to 50 percent, updating the competitive needs limitations (“CNLs”) by increasi ..read more

On April 19, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to enhance technological innovation and support the goals of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership. The interim final rule makes six primary export control policy changes that effectively provide Australia and the UK nearly the same licensing treatment under the EAR as Canada.  The first three changes remove license requirements for national security column 1, regional stability column 1, and missile technology column 1 reasons for control for Austr ..read more

On Thursday, April 18, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions on Iran following its April 13, 2024 attack on Israel. OFAC designated 16 individuals and ten entities as Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN), specifically those involved in Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), steel, and automobile industries. In coordination with OFAC, the UK ‘s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has also announced that it is introducing sanctions on Iran. In a separate announcement, the U.S. Commerce Department’s ..read more

In recent years, the number of cases brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has significantly increased. To address this, the European Council has adopted changes that should give the CJEU considerably more flexibility in how it handles certain preliminary ruling requests, and in particular those relating to international trade issues.  Click here to continue reading the full version of this alert ..read more

17 months since it’s last issuance of a Withhold Release Order (WRO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revives its enforcement mechanism to target a Chinese importer and its affiliates operating in the safety products industry. Effective Wednesday, April 10, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will detain work gloves manufactured by Shanghai Select Safety Products Company, Limited and its two subsidiaries from China, Select (Nantong) Safety Products Co. Limited and Select Protective Technology (HK) Limited. CBP personnel will detain these products at all U.S. ports of entry ..read more

As part of a recent package of initiatives aimed at strengthening the EU’s economic security, the European Commission has put forward a proposal to revise the EU Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Screening Regulation. This proposal reflects the Commission’s experience with the existing FDI Regulation over the past three years, and it seeks to bring Member State national rules on FDI screening closer together and improve cooperation between Member States and the Commission. Click here to continue reading the full version of this client alert ..read more

The Department of Commerce’s (“DOC”) Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has published an interim final rule, as well as a request for comments, regarding new export controls for advanced computer, supercomputer, semiconductor, and manufacturing items. This update to the interim final rule serves to correct inadvertent errors and clarify export licensing procedures outlined in interim final rules “Export Controls on Semiconductor Manufacturing Items” (SME IFR) (88 FR 73424, October 25, 2023) and “Implementation of Additional Export Controls: Certain Advanced Computing Items; Supercomputer ..read more

On March 15, 2024, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to implement new restrictions on trade with Nicaragua. BIS’s amendments moved Nicaragua from Country Group B to Country Group D, applying a stringent licensing policy for items controlled for national security reasons, and making exports, reexports, and in-country retransfers to/within the country subject to ‘military end use’ and ‘military end user’ restrictions. DDTC’s ame ..read more