On December 14, 2021, lawmakers in the House and Senate announced that they had reached an agreement on compromise language for a bill known as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act or “UFLPA.” Different versions of this measure passed the House and the Senate earlier this year, but lawmakers and Congressional staff have been working to reconcile … Continue Reading
On July 14, 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was passed unanimously by the US Senate. It now moves to the House, where it is expected to pass easily – a previous version of the bill passed 406-3 in September 2020. The UFLPA reverses the previously applied burden of proof, creating a presumption … Continue Reading
On June 10, 2021, the People’s Republic of China adopted the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (the “Law”). The main purpose of the Law is to provide a legal basis for China to adopt retaliatory measures against any so-called “discriminatorily restrictive measures” that may be imposed by foreign countries against Chinese organizations and citizens (the “Foreign Sanctions”).… Continue Reading
Status: Clearance Acquirer: SK hynix Inc. (South Korea) Acquired: NAND business of Intel Corporation (US) Value: US$9 billion Industry: Semiconductors… Continue Reading
The US Department of Commerce issued a final rule on April 8, 2021, adding seven Chinese technology companies to the Entity List. The seven companies are:… Continue Reading
On 3 March, the Council of the EU decided to prolong sanctions against individuals responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state fund. On 12 March, the Council of the EU decided to extend sanctions against those involved in compromising Ukraine’s territorial integrity. On 12 March, the Council of the EU decided to revoke the sanctions … 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
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
On January 29, 2021, Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced an Administrative Settlement of $3.2 million (partially suspended) with Singapore-based Avnet Asia Pte. Ltd. (Avnet Asia), a global distributor of electronic components and related software.… 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
What are international sanctions? What are primary and secondary sanctions? What are extraterritorial effects and how will that impact multinational operations? The changing international sanctions regulations produce dizzying regulatory landscape, and complex as well as confusing compliance environment. To help lift the curtain a bit on this topic, Trade Practitioner José María Viñals (partner, Madrid/Brussels), also … Continue Reading
On December 23, 2020, the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register a Final Rule that identified 57 Chinese companies and 45 Russian companies as “military end users,” limiting their ability to purchase certain US goods and technology (MEU List).… 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 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 – Our blog post attracted the attention of the host and producer of the podcast Legal Talk Today. George Grammas, co-chair of our International Trade Practice, spoke to Legal Talk Today in early October about the extended impacts that could result from banning these applications in the US market. Listen to the interview … 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
