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The Month in International Trade – November 2024

Client Alert | 9 min read | 12.03.24

Erik Woodhouse, Former Department of State Sanctions Official, Returns to Crowell & Moring

Top Trade Developments

Crowell Speaks

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.

Erik Woodhouse, Former Department of State Sanctions Official, Returns to Crowell & Moring

Erik Woodhouse, formerly the deputy assistant secretary for the Division for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions at the U.S. Department of State, has returned to Crowell & Moring as a partner in the firm’s International Trade and Financial Services groups.  

Woodhouse brings in-depth experience from serving in a senior sanctions policy role at the Department of State, where he led a division responsible for advising the department’s policymakers and supporting the department’s implementation across almost all U.S. sanctions programs. As deputy assistant secretary, Woodhouse worked with counterparts across the executive branch to establish and implement sanctions programs, helped coordinate U.S. sanctions policy with foreign governments, and engaged with private sector stakeholders on a range of U.S. sanctions priorities. He also directly oversaw major parts of the department’s designation authorities and led the department’s foreign policy review of most of the proposed sanctions designations and licensing actions by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.   

At Crowell, Woodhouse will advise clients on complying with U.S. economic sanctions and Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering rules and regulations. His work will include the full spectrum of issues that can arise in these areas, including conducting risk assessments, advising on the design and administration of corporate compliance programs, implementing complex sanctions and AML statutory and regulatory requirements, and leading companies through internal and government investigations. He will also draw from his extensive experience to advise clients assessing risks and managing investigations across multiple jurisdictions.

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Media Contact:
Email: prteam@crowell.com

Top Trade Developments

Senate Finance Chairman Wyden Formalizes De Minimis Reform Legislation

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) recently introduced a bill that formalizes the legislation he released in August, the Fighting Illicit Goods, Helping Trustworthy Importers, and Netting Gains (FIGHTING) for America Act. The FIGHTING for America Act would remove de minimis treatment for goods impacted by the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, as well as goods subject to Sections 232, 201, and 301.

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For more information, contact: Sibilla Grenon, Ivy Xun

New Legislation Introduced in Congress Proposes Ending Normal Trade Relations with China and More

On November 14, 2024, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, introduced the Restoring Trade Fairness Act, seeking to suspend China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (“PNTR”) status.

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For more information, contact: John Brew, Aaron Cummings, Joseph Diamond, Weronika Bukowski, Ivy Xun

OFSI Granted Greater Sanctions Monitoring and Enforcement Powers

The UK Government has passed new amending sanctions regulations which grants its financial sanctions regulator – the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) – greater intelligence gathering and enforcement powers, and enables OFSI to deal with licensing applications more efficiently. 

The majority of the amendments introduced by The Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2024 (the “Regulations”) will come into force on 5 December 2024, although the extension of reporting obligations to new sectors will apply from 14 May 2025.

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For more information, contact: Dj Wolff, Nicola Phillips, Sophie Davis

OFAC Issues Necessary and Long-Awaited Updated Guidance for (Re)Insurance Industry

On November 13, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (“Treasury’s”) Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) updated its FAQs for insurers in a long-awaited move to modernize its published sanctions compliance guidance for the insurance industry.  None of the industry-specific FAQs had been updated since January 2015, and many had not been amended in more than 20 years, so these updates represent an important step by OFAC to ensure that its public guidance reflects the industry as it is today.

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For more information, contact: Dj Wolff, Carlton Greene, Andrew Schlegel

DHS Adds 29 Companies in Metals and Food Processing Sectors to UFLPA Entity List

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the addition of 29 companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List.

The updated list now includes a total of 107 entities, with the newly added companies operating in the food processing and metals sectors. Food processing firms are involved in activities such as planting, harvesting, production, processing, trade, and scientific research and development. Meanwhile, metals sector companies are engaged in mining, smelting, processing, product manufacturing, sales, and related research and development.

All 29 companies will be subject to a rebuttable presumption that their goods are produced using forced labor. This includes the sourcing of materials from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) or collaborating with the regional government to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive members of persecuted groups in the XUAR.

The presumption takes effect on November 25, 2024.

For more information, contact: John Brew, Pierfilippo Natta, Andrew Schlegel

Trump Announces 25% Tariff on Mexico and Canada

When Trump won the presidential election, he promised there would be tariffs. On November 25, 2024, we got a clearer picture of what those tariffs will look like. President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media that he would be imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office. Additionally, Trump announced the imposition of an additional 10% tariff to pre-existing Chinese tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. According to his post, Trump plans to leverage tariffs and global trade tools to motivate change in areas historically independent from trade negotiations: immigration and drug trafficking. Tariffs were a key component of Trump’s campaign—he has described them as a means of growing the U.S. economy, protecting American jobs, and raising tax revenue.

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For more information, contact: John Brew, Aaron Cummings, Joseph Diamond, Sibilla Grenon

CFIUS Finalizes Regulations to Increase Penalties, Expand Subpoena Authority, and Enhance Enforcement Authorities to Protect National Security

On Monday, November 18, 2024, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) announced that it had finalized the regulatory changes previewed in April pertaining to penalties for violations of statutory or regulatory provisions or agreements, conditions, or orders issued pursuant thereto; negotiation of mitigation agreements; requests for information by CFIUS; and certain other procedures. The changes are effective as of December 26, 2024.

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For more information, contact: Caroline Brown, Jana del-Cerro, Addie Cliffe, Nimrah Najeeb

Crowell Speaks

Fireside Chat: ACI New York Forum on Economic Sanctions, A Conversation with Michael Khoo, Task Force KleptoCapture (December 5, 2024).
Moderator: Caroline Brown

Roundtable Discussion on Forced Labour and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains – London and Brussels Sessions (November 19 and 21, 2024).
Speakers: David Stepp, Vassilis Akritidis, Simeon Yerokun, Sophie Davis, Pierfilippo Natta, Jean-Baptiste Blancardi

ACI Import Compliance and Enforcement (November 20-21, 2024).
Speaker: Dan Cannistra

Digital Assets: Compliance, Enforcement & Regulatory Oversight: New Takeaways Affecting Compliance Priorities (November 19, 2024).
Speaker: Anand Sithian

Outgoing Official: Biden Administration Will Leave Legacy of International Sanctions Cooperation
November 18, 2024 – Global Investigations Review
Related Professionals: Erik Woodhouse

@ACI China Trade Controls, Arlington, Virginia: Deciding If and How to Continue Business Operations in China: Aligning Business, Operations, Trade Compliance and Risk Management (November 13, 2024)
Speaker: Evan Chuck

Tariffs, Supply Chains Worry In-House Counsel After Trump Win
November 13, 2024 – Bloomberg Law
Related Professionals: Caroline Brown

Forced Labor Enforcement Trends, Georgetown International Law Society (November 7, 2024).
Crowell’s John Brew was a panelist, along with a senior attorney from the Office of Chief Counsel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and a former member of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force.

Contacts

Insights

Client Alert | 11 min read | 12.03.24

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation One Year On: An Effective Tool or Just More Red Tape?

Just over a year ago, the notification obligations under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) became applicable. Since then, M&A transactions and bids for government contracts above certain thresholds must be notified to the European Commission. Pending the Commission’s review, the transaction cannot be completed, or the contract cannot be awarded. What lessons can be learned from the application of the FSR to date? Has the FSR proved to be an effective tool in leveling the playing field, or has its main effect been to burden companies with red tape, at the risk of discouraging investment in Europe?...

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