Insights

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.

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.

On February 4, 2025, President Trump issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-2) on “Imposing Maximum Pressure on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Denying Iran All Paths to a Nuclear Weapon, and Countering Iran’s Malign Influence.” NSPM-2 directs U.S. government agencies to take a range of measures to reimpose “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran. 

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 Maria Alejandra (Jana) del-Cerro or any member of the International Trade Group. 

On January 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) updated the 1260H List of entities identified as “Chinese military companies” (CMC) operating in the United States, as required by section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 (Section 1260H), adding new entities and removing others.  The updated 1260H List now includes 76 entities. 

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 Maria Alejandra (Jana) del-Cerro or any member of the International Trade Group. 

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

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 that will enhance certain CFIUS procedures and sharpen its penalty and enforcement authorities.[1]  The changes go into effect on December 26, 2024 and as described in more detail below: (a) expand the types of information that CFIUS can require transaction parties and other persons (i.e., third-parties) submit when engaging with them on transactions that were not filed with CFIUS; (b) broaden the instances in which CFIUS may use its subpoena authority, including when seeking to obtain information from third persons not party to a transaction notified to CFIUS and in connection with assessing national security risk associated with non-notified transactions; and (c) substantially increase monetary penalties for violations of CFIUS regulations from a maximum of U.S. $250,000 to U.S. $5 million per violation, or the value of the transaction, whichever is greater.

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.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued new guidance (“BIS Guidance”) for financial institutions (“FIs”) on October 9, 2024, recommending that FIs undertake specific compliance practices to minimize their risk of violating General Prohibition (“GP”) 10 of BIS’s Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”).  GP 10 prohibits any person (U.S. or otherwise) from selling, transferring, exporting, reexporting, financing, ordering, buying, removing, concealing, storing, using, loaning, disposing of, transporting, forwarding, or otherwise servicing an item “subject to the EAR” with knowledge that that item was, or will be, exported, reexported, or transferred in violation of the EAR.  Knowledge in this context goes beyond actual knowledge, and can be inferred from circumstances surrounding a transaction; in other words, a “known or should have known” standard.  Although BIS has published several joint alerts with FinCEN encouraging financial institutions to look for potential red flags of evasion of export controls, this guidance goes further in establishing specific export compliance best practices for financial institutions and suggests that financial institutions that finance or otherwise service prohibited exports risk liability under the EAR.

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.

The Best Lawyers in America 2025 Recognizes Three Crowell & Moring Trade Attorneys

On August 20, 2024, the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) published an interim final rule to streamline defense trade between and among Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States in furtherance of the trilateral security partnership (the “AUKUS” partnership). The interim final rule implements the proposed rule DDTC published on May 1, 2024 with changes and is effective September 1, 2024, though DDTC is seeking comments on or before November 18, 2024.

Crowell & Moring Partner Jana del-Cerro Selected for Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG)

Crowell Speaks

On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a Final Determination, pursuant to the Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain (ICTS) regulations, prohibiting Kaspersky Lab, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of a Russia-based anti-virus software and cybersecurity company, from providing anti-virus software and cybersecurity products or services in the United States or to U.S. persons (wherever located) because it poses undue and unacceptable risk to U.S. national security. The prohibition also applies to Kaspersky Lab, Inc.’s affiliates, subsidiaries and parent companies (collectively Kaspersky). This is the first time that BIS’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS) has issued a determination pursuant to the ICTS regulations.

Crowell Welcomes

Crowell Welcomes

On May 1, 2024, the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) published a proposed rule that, if implemented, would streamline defense trade between and among Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States in furtherance of the trilateral security partnership (the “AUKUS” partnership). DDTC issued the proposed rule pursuant to new authorities and requirements contained in Section 1343 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 which, in part, directs the Department of State to immediately implement an International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) exemption, subject to certain statutory limitations, for the UK and Australia if State determines and certifies that each has implemented (1) a system of export controls comparable to those of the United States and (2) a comparable exemption from its export controls for the United States. According to DDTC, the proposed rule “prepare[s] for a future exemption” and solicits public feedback “to shape a final rule following any positive certification.”

On April 11, 2024, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) announced proposed amendments to its enforcement and mitigation regulations, marking the first substantive update to CFIUS’s mitigation and enforcement provisions since the enactment of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018.  The Committee issued a notice of proposed rulemaking ("NPRM”) that would modify the regulations that apply to certain investments and acquisitions, as well as real estate transactions, by foreign persons as follows: