The Month in International Trade—January 2023

In this issue:

• Chief Counsel, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Jason Prince Joins Crowell
• Top Trade Developments
  • Will Changes in Congress Finally Bring Trade Legislation?
  • Section 232 – Not All Quotas Are Created Equal
  • Nearly 1500 Responses Submitted to USTR as Part of the Section 301 Four Year Review Process – Is Relief on the Way?
  • Customs Ruling of the Week
• Crowell Welcomes
• Crowell in the Press

This news bulletin is provided by the International Trade Group of Crowell & Moring. If you have questions or need assistance on trade law matters, please contact Jana del-Cerro, Anand Sithian, or Simeon Yerokun or any member of the International Trade Group.

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Chief Counsel, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Jason Prince Joins Crowell

Washington, D.C.—January 23, 2023: Jason Prince, former chief counsel to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Crowell & Moring and will advise financial institutions and other companies on the growing list of sanctions and export controls on Russia and other targeted nations and parties.

Prince brings in-depth experience leading OFAC’s implementation and enforcement of more than 40 sanctions programs against nations such as Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, and thousands of designated individuals and entities deemed to threaten the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. He oversaw the legal design of new sanctions measures and led the legal review of all major OFAC enforcement, compliance, licensing, litigation, and regulatory actions. Prior to the chief counsel role at Treasury, he served as an attorney‐advisor in the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Intelligence, where he advised the under secretary who sits over OFAC and its anti‐money laundering counterpart the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

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Top Trade Developments

Will Changes in Congress Finally Bring Trade Legislation?

Congress failed to pass much needed and anticipated trade legislation last session. Issues the new House and Senate must face include: the extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance, the future of the Trade Promotion Authority, renewed Generalized System of Preferences, and a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.

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For more information, contact: John Brew, Simeon Yerokun, Emily Devereaux

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Section 232—Not All Quotas Are Created Equal

Since March 2018, when President Trump exercised his authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent import on aluminum, trade partners of the United States have made efforts to receive exemptions from the steel and aluminum tariffs. In several instances, the Department of Commerce used the leverage created by the Section 232 tariffs to negotiate tariff rate or absolute quotas with strategic allies. While Canada, Mexico, and Australia are now exempt from the Section 232 tariffs, the U.S. maintains quota deals with Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, the EU, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Despite all of these countries having quota deals with the U.S., these agreements do have key differences that importers need to understand.

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For more information, contact: John Brew, Sam Boone

Nearly 1500 Responses Submitted to USTR As Part of The Section 301 Four Year Review Process—Is Relief on the Way?

This Tuesday, January 17, marked the close for the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR’s) comment period for its statutory 4-year review of tariffs imposed on Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. To-date, the Biden Administration has retained Section 301 tariffs on over $300 billion worth of imports from China, which were initially imposed in four different tranches (referenced as Lists 1, 2, 3 and 4A) starting in 2018 by the Trump Administration.  

As part of its mandatory 4-year review on whether the Section 301 tariffs imposed on China have been effective, USTR asked stakeholders their “views on the effectiveness of the actions in obtaining the elimination of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.” As of the January 17 deadline, USTR’s questionnaire had received 1497 public comments.  

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For more information, contact: John Brew, Sam Boone, Dmitry Bergoltsev

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Customs Rulings of the Week

• Country of Origin of an Aluminum Monitor Mount
• Country of Origin of Battery Modules and Battery Packs and the Applicability of Certain Trade Remedies Under Section 301
• Classification of a Reptile Enclosure
• Classification of a Biometric Scanner

For more information, contact: Simeon Yerokun, Maria Vanikiotis, Martín Yerovi, Emily Devereaux

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Crowell Welcomes

Crowell welcomes two talented new members to the team: Weronika Bukowski and Aryn Gruneisen.

Weronika, who is based in our New York Office, comes to Crowell after clerking for the Honorable Timothy C. Stanceu at the Court of International Trade, where she assisted Judge Stanceu in a variety of customs and trade remedy-related cases.  Prior to her clerkship, Weronika was an associate at an International law firm.  While there, Weronika regularly advised clients on sanctions, export controls in the EAR, the FCPA, US customs law and import rules, global foreign investment review regulations, and other civil and criminal statutes and regulations as a member of the Global Sanctions and Trade Team.  She was also seconded to a large trading house in Tokyo to establish a global sanctions and export controls compliance policy and advise on sanctions enforcement issues.  She is looking forward to joining the International Trade Group at Crowell.

Aryn, who is based in our Washington D.C. office, is a University of Arizona law graduate and comes to Crowell from Twitter where she was the Senior Export Controls Counsel. Prior to Twitter, Aryn worked in various in-house export compliance management roles at Carnegie Mellon University, nLIGHT Inc, and Raytheon. In her ten years of trade experience, she has provided guidance on a wide variety of technologies including, encryption software, lasers, semiconductors, avionics, missiles, and robotics.  At Crowell, she is looking forward to focusing on export controls and trade compliance matters.

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Crowell in the Press

How An Oligarch May Have Recruited The F.B.I. Agent Who Investigated Him
January 28, 2023—The New York Times
Related Professionals: Carlton Greene

Why Proof of Innocence Won’t Work For US Tornado Cash Users
January 28, 2023—Blockworks
Related Professionals: Anand Sithian

Goldman, JPMorgan Split On Answer To Richest Russian’s Sanctions
January 12, 2023—Bloomberg Law
Related Professionals: Michelle J. Linderman