Insights

On July 28, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its Covered List — established through the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act — to include foreign-produced connected power inverters and advanced robotic devices, following an executive branch national security determination that they “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.” Equipment on the Covered List is ineligible for FCC equipment authorization, effectively prohibiting the import, sale, or marketing of those products without an exception or approval.

In a significant and unanimous ruling, the D.C. Circuit upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) final rule designating perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (“PFOS”) as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), denying the petitions of seven industry groups seeking to overturn that designation.[1] CERCLA, also known as the “Superfund Statute,” allows EPA to require potentially responsible parties to fund cleanup of hazardous substances.

It has been an eventful summer for followers of congressional oversight, with significant implications for individuals and organizations of all stripes. As we move closer to the midterms and then the 2028 general election, private entities both in the U.S. and overseas will find themselves increasingly pulled into the middle of clashes between Republicans and Democrats — and those disputes are inevitable, regardless of election outcome.

Algorithmic pricing tools commonly used by businesses to increase efficiency and profits are under increasing antitrust scrutiny. This summer, federal regulators, state attorneys general, and state legislatures grappled with competing businesses providing nonpublic, competitively sensitive data to common algorithmic platforms. The Third Circuit deepened an emerging circuit split with the Ninth Circuit on algorithmic pricing liability, reviving antitrust claims against Atlantic City casino-hotels in a decision with direct implications for any company that uses a common pricing platform. See Crowell’s recent client alert. And New Jersey enacted two landmark laws—the FAIR Act and the Fair Price Protection Act—directly regulating algorithmic rent-setting and surveillance pricing. See Crowell’s recent client alert.

A recent U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) decision serves as an important reminder that when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denies a protest, this is not necessarily the end of the road. Often, contractors retain the right to file a new protest at the COFC, which conducts its own de novo review of the procurement record. This so-called “second bite at the apple” protest is a powerful tool as the COFC’s recent decision in Chugach Logistics & Facility Services JV, LLC v. USA makes clear.

On August 21, 2026, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published three coordinated final rules that eliminate – from a regulatory perspective – federal contractor affirmative action requirements for women and minorities and narrow contractor affirmative action requirements regarding individuals with disabilities. The final rules: (1) formally rescind the implementing regulations for Executive Order (EO) 11246 effective October 26, 2026; (2) narrow Section 503 affirmative action requirements regarding individuals with disabilities, generally effective September 21, 2026; and (3) update VEVRAA coverage thresholds and enforcement procedures effective September 21, 2026.

On August 13, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published its final rule banning the use of federal funds — through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — to pay for gender-affirming care for children and youth. The final rule takes effect October 13, 2026 (“Prohibition on Federal Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Funding for Sex-Rejecting Procedures Furnished to Children”). While CMS finalized several key elements of its late-2025 proposed rule (Client Alert December 24, 2025), the proposed Medicare hospital Condition of Participation rule remains in proposed form.

A Virginia federal court recently delivered a useful reminder for trade secret owners: a missing NDA is not automatically fatal if the company can show it treated the information as genuinely confidential. In WeightPack, Inc. v. Mitchell, No. 3:25-cv-927 (E.D. Va. July 23, 2026), the court denied a former employee’s motion to dismiss trade secret claims under both the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act (VUTSA). The court held that the employer had plausibly alleged reasonable measures to protect secrecy even though the employee never signed a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement.

On August 12, 2026, the White House released a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), marking a seismic shift in U.S. cybersecurity policy and establishing a framework to authorize private-sector companies to conduct offensive cyber operations—historically strictly prohibited by federal law—against foreign Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations (CE-TCOs).  It builds on an executive order issued in March 2026 that directed federal agencies to develop plans to combat cyber-crimes against Americans.

Of particular interest for investors with interests in Canada or the UAE, for counsel advising on treaty coverage, dispute strategy, or treaty design, the Canada-UAE FIPA is essential reading and the clearest evidence yet of where Canada's investment treaty practice stands over 30 years after NAFTA came into force.

Over the past 18 months, the federal banking agencies have clarified supervisory expectations for banks’ crypto-asset activities, and several of the largest U.S. banks have announced programs accepting Bitcoin and Ether as loan collateral. Separately, on June 3, 2026, New York’s enactment of the 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code took effect, changing the rules governing the perfection of a security interest in digital asset collateral in New York, the jurisdiction whose law governs most institutional credit documentation. Together, these developments may create significant opportunities for lenders navigating the complexities to comply with the newly enacted statutes. This alert surveys the current landscape, from regulatory permissibility and perfection through custody, structuring, and compliance, for institutions active in this market or considering entering it.

In Appeal of Bahadir (a C&M case), the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals denied the government’s motion to dismiss in its entirety, ruling in favor of the contractor on both key issues raised by the government. The case arises from a contract for construction work at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, under which Appellant alleged government-caused delay and filed certified prolongation claims using a “windows analysis” methodology. The government moved to dismiss, arguing that Appellant failed to state a sum certain for each of what the government characterized as 38 distinct claims, and separately that four claims had not been properly presented to the Contracting Officer. 

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 Anand Sithian or Simeon Yerokun or any member of the International Trade Group.

On July 20, 2026, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the Forbidding the Algorithmic Inflation of Rent (FAIR) Act into law, making New Jersey the fourth state to regulate algorithmic rent-setting practices. Three days later, on July 23, 2026, Governor Sherrill signed the Fair Price Protection Act, which targets “surveillance pricing”—the practice of using or collecting personal data about a user and using an algorithm or artificial intelligence to charge different consumers different prices for the same products. Together, these laws represent a significant expansion of New Jersey's consumer protection framework in the algorithmic pricing context.

On July 28, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its Covered List, established through the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act to include foreign-produced connected power inverters and advanced robotic devices. The designation of these products to the Covered List follows an Executive Branch national security determination that they “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.” Equipment listed on the Covered List is ineligible for FCC equipment authorization, effectively prohibiting the import, sale, or marketing of those products absent an exception or approval. This action comes only months after the FCC added consumer-grade routers to the Covered List on March 23, 2026 and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) on December 22, 2025. Taken together, these actions reflect the FCC’s increasingly expansive approach to using its authorities to guard against foreign produced connected technologies that may create vulnerabilities enabling disruption of critical infrastructure, unauthorized access to sensitive information, or cyber intrusions. The shift is a departure from the FCC’s previous focus on equipment and services produced by certain PRC and Russian companies.

On July 23, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced that it will again use targeted Second Request investigations and released a revised Model Timing Agreement, another signal that this Antitrust Division continues to take a more business friendly approach toward merger review. The model introduces an optional “Expedited Consideration” process that gives merging parties the option to address discrete competitive concerns identified by the DOJ before undertaking full Second Request compliance.

Two federal appellate courts have now looked at analogous allegations of price fixing using AI-driven pricing software and reached opposite conclusions—creating an arguable circuit split and providing additional guidance to companies using algorithmic pricing tools.

The rapid buildout of AI infrastructure has placed data centers at the heart of a new and expanding wave of class action litigation. Over the past several months, plaintiffs’ firms with significant experience in mass tort and environmental class actions have begun recruiting plaintiffs and filing lawsuits against data center operators, alleging that noise generated by their facilities — from cooling systems, diesel generators, and HVAC equipment — constitutes a public and private nuisance and reflects actionable negligence. Companies currently operating or constructing data centers near residential communities should treat this as a material and growing legal risk.

On June 18, 2026, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) added microplastics to the list of Candidate Chemicals maintained under the state’s Safer Consumer Products (SCP) regulations.  The listing of microplastics, which becomes effective on October 1, 2026, is the first step in the SCP regulatory process, which could lead to restrictions on products that contain or release microplastics. 

GAO’s recent dismissal of the protest in Tyonek Technical Innovations, LLC, B-424364, B-424364.2, June 30, 2026, carries an important lesson for government contractors: if you believe solicitation terms conflict with a statute or regulation, you must raise that challenge before proposals are due—not during discussions or afterwards.