April 2021

Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned various individuals and entities connected to Russia’s technology sector and also expanded sanctions against dealings in Russian sovereign debt.  In addition to these immediate actions, President Biden also issued a new Executive Order which will significantly expand OFAC’s authority to impose future sanctions

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) requested industry comments by April 28, 2021 to assist with the DoD’s forthcoming report identifying risks and policy recommendations regarding the supply chain for strategic and critical materials.  The Apr. 13, 2021 Federal Register notice notes “the need for resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure U.S. economic prosperity

In Husch Blackwell’s March 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • USTR announced the continuation of certain Section 301 digital services taxes investigations
  • The U.S. temporarily suspended tariffs on UK and EU goods in the large civil aircraft dispute
  • USTR suspended trade engagement with

The U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT” or “the Court”) ruled in an opinion issued on April 5, 2021, that Proclamation 9980 subjecting steel and aluminum “derivatives” to 25 percent tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. § 1862) is invalid because of a failure to comply with statutory time limits.

On March 31, 2021, the Organic Soybean Processors of America, American Natural Processors, LLC, Lester Feed & Grain Co., Organic Production Services, LLC, Professional Proteins Ltd., Sheppard Grain Enterprises, LLC, Simmons Grain Co., Super Soy, LLC, and Tri-State Crush (“Petitioners”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of organic soybean meal from India.

On March 29th, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the suspension of all U.S. engagements with Burma (Myanmar) under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (“TIFA”), effective immediately.  Pursuant to this announcement, the United States will be suspending all government-to-government meetings following the military coup that occurred in February and the related escalation in violence by Burma’s military against its people.

On April 1, 2021, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced in the Federal Register the opportunity to request an annual administrative review for products that are currently subject to antidumping and countervailing duties. The products and countries that have been listed in the Federal Register notice are the following:

AD

  • Argentina: Biodiesel
  • India: Carbon and

On April 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a notice initiating new administrative reviews for antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders with February anniversary dates. Listed below are the countries and products named in the notice:

  1. India
    1. Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp (A-533-840)
    2. Stainless Steel Bar (A-533-810)
    3. Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of