Ukraine

On March 11, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order (“EO”) that prohibited the importation into the United States of fish, seafood, and preparations thereof; alcoholic beverages; non-industrial diamonds; and any other products of Russian Federation origin as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce.  Because the Executive Order lists no effective date, implementation will be immediate.  No exceptions are listed for such products that are in transit and the EO specifically states that the prohibitions apply “notwithstanding any contract entered into or license or permit granted prior to the date of this order.”

On February 24, 2022, the U.S. imposed sweeping sanctions and export controls actions in response to the Russian Federation’s (“Russia”) “war of choice” against Ukraine.  (Husch Blackwell summarized the February 24, 2022 actions in a Client Alert published here, as well as more limited actions on February 21-22 here and here.)  The past ten (10) days have featured a flurry  of new sanctions and rapidly evolving regulations and executive orders imposed by the U.S. President, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the Treasury addressing the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Below are the latest updates in chronological order.

On February 21, 2022, U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued an Executive Order (the “Ukraine Order”) in response to action taken earlier in the day by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin to recognize the Donetsk People’s Republic (“DNR”) and Luhansk People’s Republic (“LNR”) of Ukraine as “independent states”.  The DNR and LNR are two separatist bodies which have asserted governmental authority over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, respectively, without authorization from the Government of Ukraine.  In 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) added the DNR and LNR to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (the “SDN List”) in their capacities as individual entities.  Since then, OFAC has also added multiple officials associated with the DNR and LNR to the SDN List.

The U.S. Department of State recently published updated guidance pertaining to Section 232 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”). The revised guidelines subject energy export pipelines originating from Russia, particularly the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines, to secondary Section 232 sanctions (not to be confused with Section 232 of the Trade…

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has recently issued two new General Licenses to extend pre-existing authorizations for transactions with GAZ Group that would otherwise be prohibited under OFAC’s Ukraine- and Russia-related sanctions. General License 15H (“GL 15H”) authorizes certain activities necessary to maintenance or wind down of operations or existing contracts…

U.S. International Trade Commission

Section 701/731 Proceedings

Investigations
  • Mattresses from the People’s Republic of China: On June 13, 2019, the ITC released the schedule for the final phase of the Antidumping Duty Investigation.
  • Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: On June 14, 2019, the ITC announced the resumption of the final phase of the Antidumping Duty Investigation.
  • Stainless Steel Kegs from the People’s Republic of China, Germany, and Mexico: On June 17, 2019, the ITC released the schedule of the Final Phase of Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Investigations.
  • Glycine from the People’s Republic of China, India, Japan: On June 21, 2019, the ITC released the final determinations in the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty investigations.
  • Aluminum Wire and Cable from the People’s Republic of China: On June 28, 2019, the ITC released the schedule for the final phase of the Countervailing Duty and Antidumping Duty Investigations.

Investigations

  • Certain Steel Nails from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: On June 19, 2019, Commerce released a notice of its Final Scope Ruling and notice of the Amended Final Scope Ruling in the Antidumping and Countervailing duty orders of the subject merchandise.
  • Steel Propane Cylinders: On June 21, 2019, Commerce announced its final determinations in the Antidumping Duty Investigations for the People’s Republic of China and Thailand.
  • Steel Propane Cylinders from the People’s Republic of China: On June 21, 2019, Commerce released the final affirmative Countervailing Duty determination.
  • Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from the People’s Republic of China: On June 21, 2019, Commerce issued the final affirmative determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order.
  • Glycine from India and Japan: On June 21, 2019, Commerce released the amended final affirmative Antidumping Duty determination.  

On December 7, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) further extended the expiration date of certain Ukraine-related general licenses related to EN+ Group plc (EN+), United Company RUSAL PLC (RUSAL), and GAZ Group (GAZ) as the entities continue discussions with OFAC to potentially effect “significant changes in control of these sanctioned entities.”   The new  General Licenses 13H (Authorizing Certain Transactions Necessary to Divest or Transfer Debt, Equity, or Other Holdings in Certain Blocked Persons), 14D (Authorizing Certain Activities Necessary to Maintenance or Wind Down of Operations or Existing Contracts with United Company RUSAL PLC), 15C (Authorizing Certain Activities Necessary to Maintenance or Wind Down of Operations or Existing Contracts with GAZ Group), and 16D (Authorizing Certain Activities Necessary to Maintenance or Wind Down of Operations or Existing Contracts with EN+ Group PLC or JSC EuroSibEnergo) supersede their previous versions by extending the expiration date from from January 7, 2019, to January 21, 2019.

CAATSA Overview

Congress enacted the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (CAATSA) on August 2, 2017 in response to Russia’s continuing occupation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and cyber-interference in the 2018 United States Presidential elections. We previously covered CAATSA in blog posts here and here. CAATSA was notable because it passed the House of Representatives with a 419-3 approval margin and passed the Senate with a 98-2 approval margin. Among other things, CAATSA required President Donald Trump to take certain actions on the 180-day anniversary of CAATSA’s adoption, which included (but were not limited to): (i) imposing sanctions (commonly referred to as the “CAATSA Section 231 sanctions”) against persons engaged in “significant transactions” with Russia’s defense or intelligence sectors; and (ii) preparing and submitting a report (commonly referred to as the “CAATSA Section 241 report”) to various congressional committees identifying senior political figures and oligarchs within Russia. January 29, 2018 marked CAATSA’s 180-day anniversary and, as a result, it sparked a flurry of activity related to the CAATSA Section 231 sanctions and the CAATSA Section 241 report.