On November 5, 2019 the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two General Licenses (GLs) authorizing specific transactions involving the Government of Venezuela and categories of persons blocked by Executive Order 13884 (E.O. 13884).
E.O. 13884 was signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year on August 5, 2019. E.O 13884 was intended to
In OFAC’s guidance document that was released last week, OFAC made it clear that it will consider using its enforcement authority against the individuals involved in a sanctions violation, not just the entities. OFAC recognized that individual employees, particularly those in supervisory, managerial or executive level positions, have played a crucial role in facilitating or
On April 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of State published an update to its List of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated with Cuba (Cuba Restricted List) adding five additional entities to the list. 
On June 16, 2017, the President signed the National Security Presidential Memorandum-5 on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba
The government shutdown, which is now in its fourth week, is causing a backlog of cases that will need to be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investments (“CFIUS”) once the government reopens.
CFIUS is an interagency committee chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, which reviews certain transactions involving foreign investment in the Unites
Australia will become the newest member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). On October 17, 2018, parties to the GPA unanimously approved a decision to welcome Australia as the 48th WTO member to be covered by the GPA.
The GPA is a plurilateral agreement that strives to ensure open, fair
On August 29, 2018, the United States circulated a request for consultations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) members. The US has requested that the WTO help resolve a dispute between the US and Russia concerning additional duties imposed by Russia on certain US goods.
A request for consultations is similar to other forms of
On Monday, July 30, 2018, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released new resources regarding trends in global trade. The resources issued by the WTO are the latest editions of the annual publications of World Trade Statistical Review, Trade Profiles and World Tariff Profiles.
World Trade Statistical Review provides an in-depth analysis of trends in global
On Tuesday, May 29, 2018, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the anti-dumping and countervailing duties for steel nails from Vietnam do not apply to zinc wall anchors.
In August 2016, OMG Inc. asked the Department of Commerce to determine whether wall anchors were within the scope of the anti-dumping and countervailing
The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) marked its first anniversary last week. The TFA entered into force on February 22, 2017 when the World Trade Organization (WTO) obtained the required two-thirds acceptance from its members.
The WTO members are continuing to work towards fully implementing the TFA. Implementation of the TFA is expected to have positive
On January 12, 2018, President Trump issued a statement announcing that he will approve certain sanctions waivers necessary in order to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. At the same time, he called on the U.S.’s European allies to work with the U.S. to fix the flaws of the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan