The latest on Russia sanctions from the International Trade and Supply Chain Team
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The U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced on Friday that it was set to resume trade missions starting as early as March 2022.  Trade missions are government- led programs where members of the trade can meet directly with foreign industries and officials to explore potential business opportunities.  The COVID-19 pandemic brought these missions to a sudden halt in March 2020 and no trade missions have occurred in the past 24 month.  The International Trade Administration (“ITA”) is now preparing to resume in-person trade missions, where possible.
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Continue Reading Commerce Trade Missions Set to Resume in March 2022

On February 8, 2022, 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:
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Continue Reading Opportunity to Request Administrative Review

Effective January 13, 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau’s (“Census”) Automated Export System (“AES”) began issuing a response code 66Q notifying Electronic Export Information (“EEI”) filers whenever they enter an export…
Continue Reading AES Now Requires Consistency with EAR Destination-Based Controls; Census Will Not Remove Domestic EEI Requirement for Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands Shipments

Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a request for comments to assist the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”) with implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”).  The UFLPA, signed by President Biden on December 23, 2021, creates a rebuttable presumption that goods manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“Xinjiang”) or produced by an entity on a number of lists to be produced, will be denied entry into the U.S. under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).  The UFLPA was passed in response to the alleged use of forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and other persecuted groups in China.  Readers can learn more about the UFLPA and the rebuttable presumption, which goes into effect on June 21, 2022, in our previous post following the UFLPA’s enactment.
Continue Reading DHS Requests Comments to Inform Implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

As tensions run high between Washington and Moscow over a possibly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated today four (4) current and former Ukrainian officials under Executive Order (“EO”) 14024 dated April 15, 2021.  In a press release issued earlier today, OFAC asserted the Russian Federal Security Service (“FSB”) “recruit[s] Ukrainian citizens in key positions to gain access to sensitive information, threaten the sovereignty of Ukraine, and then leverage these Ukrainian officials to create instability in advance of a potential Russian invasion.”  OFAC also noted that Russian agents have sought to influence U.S. elections since at least 2016.
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Continue Reading OFAC Sanctions Four Ukrainian Officials for Acting on Russia’s Behalf; Additional Russia Sanctions Could Follow

In an October 21, 2021 interim final rule (“IFR”), the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published long-awaited “cybersecurity items” controls in Categories 4 (Computers) and 5, Pt. 1 (Telecommunications) of the Commerce Control List (“CCL”) and followed the IFR up on November 12, 2021 with relevant FAQs.  The IFR will impose new export controls on certain “cybersecurity items” that relate to “intrusion software” or “IP network communications surveillance.” The IFR, originally scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2022, will now become effective on March 7, 2022.  In the January 12, 2022 notice announcing the delay, BIS stated it “may consider some modifications for the final rule” and indicated it would “provide the public with additional guidance.”  Below we describe the IFR as it currently stands.  We will update readers when BIS implements any additional edits to the IFR and/or updates its guidance.
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Continue Reading BIS Delays Implementation of New Cybersecurity Items Interim Final Rule