International Trade & Supply Chain

Cuba’s Minister of Agriculture, Gustavo Rodriguez Rollero, made an official visit to the U.S. last week together with a delegation of officials from other Cuban ministries.  Minister Rollero’s visit was preceded by a February 2016 visit from Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuba’s Foreign Trade Minister.  These visits marked the first U.S. visits from senior Cuban government officials in over 50 years.  President Obama, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon have also made their own historic visits to Cuba within recent months.  Secretary Vilsack’s visit included a meeting in Havana to sign a Memorandum of Understanding  (the “MOU”) between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture enabling the two agencies to cooperate in fields such as phytosanitary standards, plant and animal sanitation, organic production methods, climatology and irrigation through collaborative efforts such as information exchange and scientific research.

Effective May 23, 2016, the U.S. State Department revised its policy and terminated the embargo that had previously prohibited any exports to and imports of lethal arms and related material from Vietnam. President Obama announced this change in policy during a visit to Hanoi, Vietnam. Under the new policy, U.S. persons and other individuals or business entities subject to the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) may now apply for a license to export lethal defense articles and defense services to Vietnam or temporarily import the same from Vietnam. The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will then review any license applications on a case-by-case basis.

Shortly before President Obama’s upcoming visit to Cuba, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) and U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) have released new rule amendments in order to permit increased travel, financial transactions and trade between the two countries.

These amended rules remove the sponsoring organization requirement from OFAC’s general license allowing “people to people” travel to Cuba. As a result, U.S. persons may now to travel to Cuba much more easily on their own accord under the “people to people” program. However, persons doing so must still must maintain a full-time schedule of meaningful interactive activities, keep appropriate documentation and satisfy other requirements. Travel to or within Cuba for tourism purposes remains prohibited.

On Tuesday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) made an affirmative determination in a five-year (sunset) review concerning pressure sensitive plastic tape from Italy. The was welcome news to the U.S. tape manufacturers, which made a priority of  the renewal of this order, which is decades old but still effective. Husch Blackwell’s international trade team…

Husch Blackwell announced today its membership to the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates, the leading international trade association representing the specialty chemical industry.

The Washington-based group supports chemical manufacturers with commercial and networking opportunities, advocates for the passage of rational laws and regulations, and works to increase public confidence in the industry.

“We welcome Husch Blackwell as our newest affiliate member, and we encourage them to consider SOCMA a resource with the tools to assist them in not only staying abreast of issues impacting the specialty chemical industry, but environmental stewardship and growing their business,” said SOCMA President and CEO Lawrence D. Sloan. “We look forward to their active participation in the organization.”

On Wednesday, Judge Richard Sullivan of the Southern District of New York relieved the Bank of China from an order issuing $50,000 of daily fines for failing to comply with two subpoenas for information on account holders accused of selling goods counterfeit “Gucci” goods. The matter provides an interesting case study of at least one dilemma facing foreign companies doing business in the United States – whether to comply with a US-issued subpoena knowing that compliance  would break foreign law.

New legislation, included as part of the government spending bill, enacts new changes to the visa waiver program (VWP), imposing additional restrictions on travelers from VWP countries.  The new changes require a consular interview for nationals of, or individuals who have traveled to, countries that have supported terrorism or other “high risk” countries, including Syria, Sudan, Iran, and Iraq, since March 2011.

From the “Miracle on Ice” to the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fights, sports have often played a pivotal symbolic role in American diplomacy abroad. Now, as relations with Cuba have started to thaw, The New York Times recently detailed the Caribbean Baseball Initiative’s plan to bring a Minor League Baseball team to Havana. The group, led by veteran baseball executive Lou Schwechheimer,  has spent the last decade laying significant groundwork toward this end and hopes for success as early as 2017.