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PODCAST: U.S. Objectives for Negotiating NAFTA — C&M's Trump: The First Year Series

Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.28.17

The U.S. released its negotiating objectives for NAFTA on July 17. In the latest podcast for Crowell & Moring’s “Trump: The First Year” series, Robert Holleyman and John Brew, both partners in the firm’s International Trade Group, discuss the objectives and the key takeaways. Robert previously served as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and as a counsel for the U.S. Senate. John’s practice focuses on customs, and he has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation.

 Discussed in this 17-minute podcast: 

  • An overview of NAFTA.
  • What the U.S. hopes to accomplish in areas such as trade in goods, digital trade, intellectual property, procurement, currency and others.
  • The high stakes around the rules of origin and how revisions may impact the region.
  • How trade remedies will play into NAFTA and what the fate of Chapter 19 dispute resolution might look like.
  • What businesses with operations or trade interests in Mexico and Canada should do now.

Click below to listen or access from one of these links:
PodBean | SoundCloud | iTunes

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future....