Trump and Trade

Timely legal updates on the Trump administration's international trade activities and policies

Blog Authors

Scott Diamond

Thompson Hine International Trade

Joyce Rodriguez

TH-International-Trade

Latest from Trump and Trade

Trump and Trade

Commerce and Treasury Departments Sanction Entities Supporting Iran’s Mahan Air

By Scott Diamond

August 24, 2020

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against several persons and entities determined to be supporting Iran’s Mahan Air in violation of U.S. sanctions toward Iran. According to both agencies, the involved companies have provided key parts and logistics services for Mahan Air, which was first sanctioned in March 2008 for providing support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)…

Trump and Trade

ITC Section 332 Investigation Seeks Public Comment on COVID-19 Related Industry Sectors and Products

By Scott Diamond

August 24, 2020

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced on August 21, 2020 that it has initiated a Section 332 general factfinding investigation on COVID-19 related industry sectors and particular products. The investigation, COVID-19 Related Goods: The U.S. Industry, Market, Trade, and Supply Chain Challenges, was requested by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance in an August 13, 2020 letter. In a final report…

Trump and Trade

Treasury and State Departments Continue to Tighten Sanctions Against Syrian President Basher al-Assad’s Regime

By Scott Diamond

August 24, 2020

On August 20, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of State sanctioned six Syrian individuals in President Basher al-Assad’s office and the Syrian Ba’ath Party who have contributed to the oppression of the Assad regime. The sanctioned individuals are: (1) President al-Assad’s media adviser, Luna al Shibl; (2) senior Ba’ath party official Mohamad Amar Saati; (3) Yasser Ibrahim, National Defense Forces commander; (4) Fadi Saqr, 42nd…

Trump and Trade

United States and the European Union Agree to Certain Tariff Reductions

By Scott Diamond

August 24, 2020

On August 21, 2020, the United States and the European Union (EU) agreed to tariff reductions on several products unrelated to ongoing trade disputes involving Section 232 national security tariffs on aluminum and steel products and retaliatory tariffs under the WTO dispute involving large commercial aircraft. In a Joint Statement issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the EU will eliminate tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products, valued…

Trump and Trade

USTR Retroactively Excludes Two Additional Chinese Products from Section 301 Tariffs and Amends Other Product Exclusion Descriptions

By Scott Diamond

August 24, 2020

On August 21, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice exempting Section 301 import tariffs for two additional List/Tranche 3 products from China (import from China with an annual trade value of $200 billion): Wallets, whether or not with wrist straps, of reinforced plastics, each measuring at least 17.5 cm long by 2 cm wide by 11 cm high and not more than 19 cm long by 2 cm…

Trump and Trade

COVID-19 Government Measures Guide

By Thompson Hine International Trade

August 20, 2020

Since April 2020, we have collaborated with our foreign law firm partners to provide a chart of economic, labor and employment, health and safety, and export and import measures taken by governments around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will not provide regular updates to this chart (until further notice) but please feel free to contact us or the firms listed on the chart directly with any questions. View/Download the Country Guide: …

Trump and Trade

Commerce Adds Further Huawei Affiliates to Entity List and Tightens Huawei-Related Direct Product Rule

By Scott Diamond

August 19, 2020

On August 17, 2020, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Federal Register notice and Final Rule taking several actions directly impacting Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei) and its non-U.S. affiliates. Importantly, after issuing and extending a temporary general license since May 2019, BIS removed that license and replaced it with a more limited permanent authorization. BIS also added thirty-eight (38) non-U.S. affiliates of Huawei to the Entity List and…

Trump and Trade

President Trump Orders Chinese Company ByteDance to Divest Its Holdings in TikTok (formerly Musical.ly)

By Scott Diamond

August 17, 2020

On August 14, 2020, after an extensive review and unanimous recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order directing that the already completed transaction that resulted in the acquisition of Musical.ly, now known as TikTok, by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. be unwound. The 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly appears not to have been reviewed by CFIUS prior to completion. The order directs ByteDance to…

Trump and Trade

USTR Makes Minor Revisions to List of EU Goods Subject to WTO Retaliatory Tariffs in Ongoing Dispute Over Large Civil Aircraft Subsidies

By Scott Diamond

August 13, 2020

On August 12, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released an updated list of goods from the European Union (EU) that will continue to be subject to retaliatory tariffs as part of the dispute settlement at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Airbus subsidies. In June 2020, USTR sought public comment on a proposal to possibly modify the list of EU products subject to the tariffs and whether such products should be…

Trump and Trade

Federal Trade Commission Seeks Comment on “Made in USA” Labeling

By Scott Diamond

August 11, 2020

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comment on the “Made in USA” claim and other unqualified U.S.-origin claims on product labels. The FTC’s statutory authority allows it to pursue enforcement actions to prevent unfair and deceptive “Made in USA” and other U.S.-origin claims. According to the notice, the FTC held a public workshop and collected public comments in support of a review of unqualified labeling claims.…

Trump and Trade

Timely legal updates on the Trump administration's international trade activities and policies

Blog Authors

Commerce and Treasury Departments Sanction Entities Supporting Iran’s Mahan Air

ITC Section 332 Investigation Seeks Public Comment on COVID-19 Related Industry Sectors and Products

Treasury and State Departments Continue to Tighten Sanctions Against Syrian President Basher al-Assad’s Regime

United States and the European Union Agree to Certain Tariff Reductions

USTR Retroactively Excludes Two Additional Chinese Products from Section 301 Tariffs and Amends Other Product Exclusion Descriptions

COVID-19 Government Measures Guide

Commerce Adds Further Huawei Affiliates to Entity List and Tightens Huawei-Related Direct Product Rule

President Trump Orders Chinese Company ByteDance to Divest Its Holdings in TikTok (formerly Musical.ly)

USTR Makes Minor Revisions to List of EU Goods Subject to WTO Retaliatory Tariffs in Ongoing Dispute Over Large Civil Aircraft Subsidies

Federal Trade Commission Seeks Comment on “Made in USA” Labeling

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