Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri reviewed developments in the Criminal Division's revised enformement policies, citing examples in the department's caseload year to date. Previously Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Argentieri assumed her current role in August replacing Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite. Her remarks were delivered at the American Bar Association 10th Annual London White Collar Crime Institute October 10, 2023.
Global commodity trading powerhouse Trafigura announced the establishment of $400 million revolving credit facilities subsidized by the Export Import Bank of the US (EXIM). Each policy is for $200 million, with a 90 percent guarantee, for a taxpayer exposure of $360 million. The subsidies to Trafigura’s bankers, Citibank and Credit Agricole “could support over 12,000 U.S. jobs,” according to EXIM statements.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a "Department-wide Safe Harbor Policy" for voluntary self-disclosures of misconduct by acquirers in the mergers and acquisition process.
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has published new best practice guidance for industry to help prevent items that are considered the most significant to Russian weaponry requirements from being diverted for use in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The. Septermber 28 guidance recommends that exporters and reexporters of these highest priority items seek written assurances of compliance from their customers to help prevent diversion.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the addition of three Chinese manufacturers to the Uyghur Forced Labor blacklist which, if enforced, could greatly impact the US vinyl flooring industry. China accounts for 63% of all vinyl floor tiling shipped to the United States in the last two years, and Vietnam comes in second at 20%. Materially all of the PVC in these shipments is sourced from the Uyghur region, including transshipments through Vietnam.
As a follow-up to the establishment of the “Export Enforcement Five” or “E5” partnership to coordinate on export control enforcement issues in June 2023, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have issued joint guidance to industry and academia identifying high priority items critical to Russian weapons systems and urging specific actions to prevent diversion of these items to Russia through third countries.
The US Export-Import Bank Board of Directors has approved three transactions in the energy and transportation sectors, the Bank announced Friday. 1. Pre-construction engineering and feasibility studies for the potential development of two nuclear reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant complex in Romania. 2. Export of Wabtec locomotive and locomotive shunter kits to the national railway of Kazakhstan. 3. Repair and upgrade of operating gas turbines in ten locations in Iraq.
In a speech at Washington's CSIS, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai outlined the Biden-Harris Administration's vision for a reformed World Trade Organization (WTO). The Ambassador emphasized the need for the WTO to adapt to contemporary challenges like climate change and non-market economic policies. She also reiterated that the rules governing the WTO should not be static but must be updated through ongoing negotiations among member states.
In a recent speech, Marshall Miller, principal associate deputy attorney general, emphasized consistency, predictability, and transparency in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to corporate enforcement, particularly in relation to national security. "National security laws must rise to the top of your compliance risk chart, with the recognition that even the most innocuous-looking transaction or activity could implicate our collective security."
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released updates to its list of controlled “common high priority” items identified as critical to Russia’s war effort following meetings with key members of the Global Export Control Coalition. In coordination with partners, BIS has added seven new Harmonized System (HS) codes to the list, including bearings needed for heavy vehicles or other machinery and antennae used for navigation systems. Additionally, Tier 3 has been divided into mechanical and non- mechanical items to provide greater clarity.
Assistant Secretary for Investment Security Paul Rosen gave attendees of the Second Annual CFIUS Conference an update on enforcement and pending regulatory change. His remarks follow, well worth the read. For those without the time, here's the gist: "“We are on track to have more civil monetary penalties issued this year than we have in our entire history.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), issued a subpoena to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, USSA International LLC, for documents related to PIF’s takeover of American golf and other investments throughout the United States. “The Saudi’s Public Investment Fund cannot have it both ways: if it wants to engage with the United States commercially, it must be subject to United States law and oversight,” Blumenthal said. “That oversight includes this Subcommittee’s inquiry.”
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee met September 12th, with little news, but steady progress on the rulemaking front.
[from the EU release] We, the Leaders of the G20, met in New Delhi on 9-10 September 2023, under the theme ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. We are One Earth, One Family, and we share One Future. We, the Leaders of the G20, met in New Delhi on 9-10 September 2023, under the theme …
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is developing a framework for carbon-pricing in order to further bolster the ongoing carbon border adjustment measures that are likely to be imposed by the European Union early next year while the United States appears to be developing a framework for imposing carbon duties, our correspondent has learned. Several members are expressing concern that instead of focusing on the core mandated and unresolved issues from the previous ministerial meetings, including the Doha Development Agenda, the DG appears to be frittering away the limited resources of the Secretariat on developing the carbon-pricing framework, an issue that has not been formally mandated by members or by trade ministers at any previous meeting, said several Secretariat insiders who asked not to be identified.
World Trade Organization Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations Chair Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland has issued a draft text on the “disciplines on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing” pillar for upcoming negotiations in the fall, WTD has learned. The five-page restricted room document (RD/TN/RL/174) issued on Monday and seen by our correspondent, appears to contain asymmetries in the provision of carveouts to big subsidizers who contributed to the problem of global depletion of fish stocks on the one side, and special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries on the other, said people familiar with the text.
House Ways and Means Committee Republicans are making sure European officials understand their opposition to an international tax agreement negotiated through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At meetings in Paris and Berlin, the Republicans said they will not support the Pillar One and Pillar Two tax agreements.
Huawei's release of a phone called the Mate 60 Pro has the industrial security community atwitter, if we can still use that word. The device boasts a processor fabricated at seven nanometers, a threshold of precision the allied export controls of chipmaking equipment were meant to thwart.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo concluded a four-day visit to China this week, meeting with her counterpart, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. The trip aimed to revive economic dialogue between the world's two largest economies, despite persistent tensions over trade issues and national security. According to a statement from the Chinese Commerce Ministry on Thursday, China has urged the U.S. to extend "equal treatment" to Chinese companies investing in the United States. "China demands the U.S. give equal treatment to Chinese enterprises investing in the U.S. in terms of market access, regulatory enforcement, public procurement, and policy support," said Shu Jueting, a commerce ministry spokesperson. China also raised "serious concerns" over the U.S. imposition of Section 301 tariffs, describing them as "discriminatory."
Based on a BIS review of the existing Section 232 exclusion process for areas of improvement and public comments on the current process for submissions to BIS, BIS is publishing this proposed rule to propose revisions to the Section 232 exclusions process, including to the Section 232 Exclusions Portal. The proposed rule to amend the Section 232 exclusions process comprises four salient modifications designed to refine efficiency, fairness, and transparency.
