International M&A practitioners are used to dealing with CFIUS for any transaction involving assets in the US. The Europeans M&A practitioners are, however, catching up, and many multijurisdictional deals will now face clearance in a number of countries. The latest addition to the list, the UK National Security and Investment Bill, is broad in scope … Continue Reading
On January 15, 2021, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an Interim Final Rule imposing new restrictions requiring licenses for certain transactions involving “military-intelligence end uses” or “military-intelligence end users” in China, Russia, Venezuela or a country listed in Country Group E:1 or E:2. It is important to note … Continue Reading
In the week of February 1, 2021, here are key developments in transatlantic trade: The EU’s COVID-19 vaccine export control mechanism is unable to escape ongoing criticism and a proposal was raised that would invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, increasing UK-EU tension Lawmakers in the US attempt to move the “American Rescue … Continue Reading
** UPDATE: On February 5, 2020, the FAR Council “corrected” the effective date of the Final Rule from January 21, 2021, to January 19, 2021. This alert has been updated accordingly. ** Recent modifications to regulations and federal government acquisition policies portend big change for contractors across the US, and their suppliers around the world. … Continue Reading
This week in transatlantic trade: Countries on both sides of the Atlantic are accelerating their efforts to stave off the spread of the COVID-19 variants by speeding up vaccination and adding travel restrictions The EU intends to increase export transparency on COVID experimental vaccines produced within its boundaries; and the European Commission is going to … Continue Reading
The People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) established a foreign investment security review in 2011 that focused exclusively on the merger and acquisition of domestic companies by foreign investors in a notice issued by the State Council (the 2011 Notice)1. On December 19, 2020, the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC) and the Ministry … Continue Reading
On Saturday 9 January 2021, the PRC Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued MOFCOM Order No. 1 of 2021 on Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extra-Territorial Applications of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures (the Rules). The Rules specify that they were formulated pursuant to the PRC National Security Law for the express purpose of “counteracting the impact … Continue Reading
After several rounds of revisions, China finally adopted its first Export Control Law (ECL), which went into force on December 1, 2020. In general, we consider the ECL general, vague and hard to be implemented in practice without further adopting implementation rules. It incorporates many concepts from the US export control laws, but with few … Continue Reading
On November 11, 2020, the UK government announced a new NSI regime. Under the new regime, certain direct foreign investments in the UK will require mandatory notification to, and prior approval by, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) before completion.… Continue Reading
On November 12, 2020, the President signed an Executive Order (EO) on “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies.” The EO generally prohibits any transaction in publicly traded securities, or any securities that are derivative of, or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any Chinese military … Continue Reading
The latest edition of our transatlantic export controls and sanctions wrap-up is now available. In this publication, we look at the shifting regulatory framework for international trade compliance on both sides of the Atlantic. In this issue, we cover:… Continue Reading
On October 13, 2020 the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued its latest ruling in the long-standing Boeing-Airbus dispute, granting the EU the authority to impose compensatory tariffs totaling up to US$4 billion on US goods in response to allegedly illegal subsidies provided to Boeing. Once again, US exporting companies find themselves in the crosshairs, as … Continue Reading
On September 19, 2020, the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (the MOFCOM) published the Regulations on Unreliable Entity List (Regulations), which became effective the same day. Following its first announcement on May 31, 2019, the unreliable entities list (UEL) has attracted the attention the Chinese and non-Chinese media alike. Numerous questions … Continue Reading
Notable Developments The United States House of Representatives and Senate have released text of their versions of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 6395 and S. 4049, respectively). The Huawei-related provisions are summarized below. House Huawei provisions: Sense of Congress affirming Section 889 of the FY19 NDAA, which concerns federal procurement of Huawei equipment, … Continue Reading
On June 2, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it would be initiating new Section 301 investigations examining digital services taxes (DSTs) adopted or under consideration by Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. USTR is requesting comments to inform their … Continue Reading
On Friday, May 29, President Trump announced several actions related to China and Hong Kong. The President’s delivered remarks and what was left unsaid were equally instructive. While we are still waiting on details for some of these actions, below is an overview of the President’s announcement.… Continue Reading
A new Interim Final Rule (New Rule) issued by the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (15 CFR Parts 730-774) by expanding the direct product rule as applied to certain organizations on the entity list took effect on May 15, 2020. The New Rule, … Continue Reading
The security of the bulk-power system has long been an issue of deep concern in the US. On May 1, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) on Securing the United States Bulk-Power System. The EO created uncertainty and peril for US power companies.… Continue Reading
On Thursday, May 7 at 10 a.m. EDT (16:00 CEST), José María Viñals, trade practitioner based in our Madrid and Brussels offices, will moderate a panel discussion on the economic and trade impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Latin America.… Continue Reading
On 29 April 2020, the French Treasury announced additional emergency measures undertaken to strengthen its national foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanism.… Continue Reading
