A Review of 2020 Changes in Export Controls vis-Ă -vis China
Although 2020 is not over yet (unfortunately), the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has had a busy year by any measure.
Although 2020 is not over yet (unfortunately), the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has had a busy year by any measure.
By Bob Brewer, Braumiller Law Group It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it was, (October of 2018) that I wrote an article called “What’s
In the chaos of a pandemic, “the show must go on”, and indeed, the regulators in Washington D.C. did just that—in the form of far reaching and noteworthy changes in re-export restrictions to China and companies like Huawei.
On November 15, 2020, leaders of fifteen Asia-Pacific countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) via a virtual signing ceremony.
In a Federal Register Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, dated Oct. 28, 2020, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) proposed a program for continuing education for licensed individual customs brokers.
On September 10, 2020, HMTX Industries and related companies, Halstead and Metroflor, filed a lawsuit in the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) alleging that the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) exceeded its authority when it issued tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Trade Act”).
On April 6, 2017, Mexico published in the Mexican Official Gazette an enactment decree to amend the Marrakech Agreement that created the World Trade Organization (WTO). This amendment consisted of the incorporation of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF) set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement.
On September 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration published a final rule modifying its regulations pertaining to the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) System.
Colleges and universities – Ivy covered buildings with students and faculty engaged in academic pursuits.
Colleges and universities – Hotbeds of export control concerns. What??
The halls of academia have increasingly become involved with export control issues. There are several ways that universities are potentially affected by export controls, including:
As many importers are aware, a lawsuit was brought against the United States arguing that the List 3 and List 4A tariffs violated The Trade Act of 1974, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Once the initial lawsuit was filed by HMTX on September 10th, companies rushed to find trade counsel to submit a lawsuit on their behalf.
On the morning of September 15th our firm released a notification to importers that there was a case filed with the CIT that may possibly pave the way to refunds on the Section 301 tariffs. We expected a fairly decent response, and what we got was 10x’s that in importer’s knocking on our door to file a case.
Since the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic we’ve witnessed a myriad of businesses in all areas of commerce crash or even succumb all together to the drastic, unforeseen and continuing prohibitions and restrictions which have dramatically changed our ways of life around the world.
On July 14, 2020, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the doubling of Section 232 duties on imports of Turkish steel after the initial imposition of the original national security duties at 25% is a violation of the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection and due process.
A quick scroll through the social media app TikTok will lead you to “thirst trap” videos, Sheena Melwani playing a beautiful song on her keyboard while her “dad” provides hilarious quips, dogs like Tina the Chi doing crazy chihuahua things, and couples like Thirsty on Main providing relationship advice and looks into their daily lives.
Have you heard about the Mexican “Fourth Transformation (4T)”? Well, this is how Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) wants his term in office to be known as. He says, throughout the course of the history, Mexico has gone through 3 important episodes: 1. Independence, 2. Reform, 3. Revolution, and 4…: the 4T.
Determining the country of origin of imported articles has become increasingly important in recent years. There has long been a requirement that imported articles be marked with the name of the country of origin. Country of origin also determines eligibility for special duties or free trade agreements.
The USMCA recently went into effect on July 1, 2020, which ended the twenty-six years reign of NAFTA. A major focus of the new agreement was to update the regulations relating to the automotive sector.
The new agreement is similar to NAFTA in many respects, and the commitments that pertain specifically to machinery, equipment and computers in Chapter 84 have not changed very much, with the exception of the rules of origin calculations for motor vehicles and parts, which impacts several categories of goods in Chapter 84.
The enactment of the “United States Mexico Canada Trade Agreement” (“USMCA”) on July 1st, 2020, heralded the first new tri-lateral trade agreement since the enactment of its predecessor, NAFTA in 1994.
On July 14, 2020, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) that stripped Hong Kong of its different and preferential treatment from mainland People’s Republic of China (PRC or China). In accordance with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the city of Hong Kong’s sovereignty was handed over to mainland China from the U.K. in 1997, but as an autonomous city with a largely separate legal and economic system from mainland China.
Companies try to shield detection of forced labor goods from the Uyghur Region in China by shipping through Malaysia to avoid accurately reporting the country of origin. Adrienne Braumiller discusses the importance of tracing your supply chain to avoid violating forced labor laws.
What is in store for Web 3.0, digital assets, DAOs, blockchain, and others. James Holbein discusses a future where these tools will be simple, fast and easy to use.
James Holbein discusses the future of regulation and oversight of crypto currency, including from the U.S. Congress, the Fed, SEC, the U.S. Treasury Department, and other agencies.
Bruce Leeds discusses the changing landscape for customs brokers amid changes recommended by COAC (Commercial Customs Advisory Committee) which is an advisory committee to U.S. customs. The result are changes to modernize regulations through an overhaul of part 111 of the customs the regulations, including responsible supervision and control.
James Holbein discusses FTX and the emerging crypto currency industry. He includes the importance of transparency offered by blockchain, something that FTX masked.
Adrienne Braumiller discusses forced labor, its definition and how it’s regulated. U.S. forced labor prohibitions have been in place since the 1930s but an exercisable exception was repealed in 2015. In the current landscape, importers and exporters must navigate WROs (Withhold Release Order) and findings.
Bob Brewer discusses international trade and an upcoming meeting between President Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. He discusses the Chinese threat to Taiwan and whether Xi will take lessons from Putin and is invasion of Ukraine.
Harold Jackson discusses China, anti-dumping and countervailing duty. Impacts on products such as steel and aluminum are discussed and how China has increased production of metals that are cheaper than those manufactured in the U.S.. He discusses the sizes of associated dumping rates that are used to protect domestic industries.
Harold Jackson discusses China and BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security) action on AI, advanced computing and semiconductors that restricts exports to China. He reviews licensing and how companies can navigate through these restrictions.
Brandon French discusses section 301. He reviews China entering the WTO in 2001 and the 2017 USTR investigation that led to tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S.. Brandon talks about the process of tariff exclusion requests for goods deemed to be only available from China.