Insights

Washington – August 17, 2023: The 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 47 firm lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 41 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

On June 6, 2022, President Biden issued a White House Fact Sheet (“Fact Sheet”) outlining President Biden’s “Bold Executive Action to Spur Domestic Clean Energy Manufacturing” along with five related Defense Production Act (“DPA”) Presidential Determinations[1] (“Presidential Determinations”) and a Declaration of Emergency and Authorization for Temporary Extensions of Time and Duty-Free Importation of Solar Cells and Module from Southeast Asia (the “Declaration”).  The Fact Sheet states the President is (1) authorizing use of the DPA to accelerate domestic production of clean energy technologies; (2) encouraging domestic solar manufacturing capacity through the use of master supply agreements with enhanced domestic preferences; and (3) creating a two-year trade regulation bridge as domestic manufacturing for solar products scales up.  The White House stated that these actions are being taken to lower energy costs, reduce risks to the power grid, and mitigate climate change.  The Department of Energy (“DOE”) also released a statement on June 6 about the DPA Presidential Determinations which describes DOE’s concerns with regard to each material or technology for which a determination was issued.  The statements made by the White House and DOE also make clear that these actions to employ the DPA are part of the Administration’s broader “all of government” approach to addressing Environmental Justice, with the intention to “strongly encourage projects with environmental justice outcomes that empower the clean energy transition in low income communities historically overburdened by legacy pollution.”

On October 4, 2021, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai delivered a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) detailing the Biden Administration’s new strategy for managing U.S.-China trade relations. Tai announced that the USTR will restart a targeted tariff exclusion process for Section 301 duties. Today (October 6) the USTR published a request for comments regarding possible reinstatement of certain exclusions to the Section 301 tariffs visible here. The exclusion process covers 549 products for which the prior Administration granted exclusion extensions, most of which expired on December 31, 2020.  See here for the list of covered products   The USTR is seeking public comments on whether or not to further extend the exclusion from 301 tariffs on these products.  The comment period opens October 12 and closes December 1 and 11:59 PM EST and can be accessed here.  

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) came into force on July 1, 2020. Included in the USMCA are stronger labor provisions Congressional Democrats demanded, with the support of the Trump Administration, that were approved on a bipartisan basis during consideration of the USMCA implementing legislation in late 2019. The stronger labor provisions helped secure the support of key labor groups for the USMCA. Together with overall support from business groups, the USMCA set a framework for more extensive labor commitments in U.S. trade agreements. This is expected to lead to more aggressive enforcement.

Meeting U.S. customs law requirements can be challenging, time-consuming, and very costly for importers if not done right. Non-compliance with customs laws can result in civil and criminal penalties, denial of entry, seizure and destruction of goods. It is imperative for importers to have a solid protocol for applying the critical rules on a day-to-day basis.

The World Customs Organization and the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee are pleased to announce that the 10th annual WCO PICARD Conference will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 8-10, 2015.

SFIA is pleased to host the 2015 Litigation & Risk Management Summit on February 2-3, 2015 at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Hotel.

Businesses are under increasing pressure to measure, improve, and disclose their environmental performance to investors, to consumers, and to regulators. And their efforts are reaching into every area of their operations, as are the risks and opportunities that follow. 

As a result of the trade wars there has been significant increase in tariffs on imports. Because tariffs are applied based on the value of imports it is critical that companies understand how to properly value their imports under U.S. customs laws. Using improper values may lead to draconian audits, enforcement actions and penalties imposed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, smart importers structure their transactions to reduce U.S. customs values, creating significant cost savings from reduced tariffs. This topic will explore the basic rules of proper U.S. customs valuation, common errors, how to avoid risks, and how to minimize U.S. customs value to maximize your company’s profits.

The USMCA will go into effect on July 1, 2020, and companies should immediately assess how their NAFTA compliance programs must be revised to ensure continued trade compliance. NAFTA transformed North American supply chains when it went into effect in 1993, and USMCA changes to NAFTA significantly alter rules on which companies have structured their global manufacturing and distribution of goods. Join us for this first in a series of presentations on how the new USMCA will affect your company as we move closer to the July 1st implementation date. We will cover issues such as: