Tariffs remain the focus of the incoming Trump Administration. Over the past several months, the announcements from president-elect Trump and his transition team have been dynamic. We expect the Trump trade policy team to use creative methods to deliver aggressive new tariff policies this year.
Continue Reading Trump Tariffs Survival Guide: 10 Strategies for U.S. Importers
The wine industry faced significant challenges due to tariffs imposed by President Trump’s first administration. During the presidential campaign, and since his election on November 5, 2024, President Trump has made it clear that he will enact higher tariffs as a key part of the political agenda of his second administration. A few days ago, he nominated Jamieson Greer as his pick for U.S. Trade Representative as the nation’s top trade official, who served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, then U.S. Trade Representative during Trump’s first term; if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mr. Greer is expected “to pursue
Continue Reading The Impact of Trump’s Tariffs on the Wine Industry: Past and Future
China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law (“AUCL”) has been amended twice since its enactment in 1993, first in 2017 and another in 2019. On December 25, 2024, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress released a Draft Revision to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (the “Draft Revision”) for public comment. The public consultation period will end on January 24, 2025.
Continue Reading Draft Revision of China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law Released
On December 2, 2024, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a new set of regulations targeting semiconductors manufacturing equipment (SME) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The updates are a part of BIS’s ongoing efforts to target semiconductors in attempt to slow down China’s advancement of AI. In the race to artificial general intelligence, advanced-node semiconductors play an outsized role in a country or company’s ability to progress.
Continue Reading The Persistence of (High Bandwidth) Memory: Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment and Korean Semiconductor Manufactures Face Harsher Restrictions Under New HBM Rules
This is a boom time for trade secret litigation in the U.S. The underlying conditions driving the boom include the growing mobility of the global workforce, the ease with which electronic data can be captured and moved, the emergence of nation-state actors participating in the theft of information in the global marketplace, and the time-limited benefits and uncertainties of patent litigation. Also fueling this rise are the federalization of trade secret laws with the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), the extraterritorial application of such laws to acts committed outside the U.S., and the availability of robust
Continue Reading The Proliferation of Trade Secret Misappropriation and U.S. Enforcement Choices
In the latest episode of Sheppard Mullin’s French Insider, a monthly podcast dedicated to guiding French investors and companies through the complexities of investing and operating in the United States, Sheppard Mullin’s Jonathan Meyer offers a deep dive into the anticipated shifts under the next Trump administration. Meyer, a partner in the firm’s Governmental Practice Group and a seasoned authority in national security, and former General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, brings his extensive experience and insider perspective to the fore, providing invaluable insights for businesses bracing for change.
Continue Reading Navigating the New Era: Insights from “Back to the White House: The Next Trump Administration”
You have always dreamed of going to space. All of us have at some point or another. And the only thing standing between you and that dream were overly-restrictive commodity and technology export licensing requirements on certain space items to specified countries! (well, that, and gravity, and the fact that you are not a billionaire[1], and maybe a few other things).
Continue Reading Ticket to Ride – The Commercial Space Activity Exception and Space Tourism: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part IV of IV)
On November 1, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce of China, together with five other governmental departments, issued the newly revised Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment in Listed Companies by Foreign Investors (the “New Measures”). The New Measures introduce several key changes to the regulations governing foreign strategic investments in A-share listed companies and cross-border share swaps. The New Measures will take effect on December 2, 2024.
Continue Reading China Revised Rules for Foreign Investors’ Strategic Investment in A-share Listed Companies
On October 23, 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”) launched a pilot program expanding foreign access to value-added telecommunications services in four pilot regions, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen. Foreign enterprises participating in this pilot program can now wholly own and operate internet data centers (IDCs) and engage in online data processing and transaction handling businesses, which would give them opportunities to participate more extensively in China’s computing power and cloud service markets.
Continue Reading China Launched Pilot Program Permitting Foreign Enterprises’ Greater Participation in Value-Added Telecommunications Services
In two recent rules, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has begun to take significant steps to monitor, and potentially control access to, U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) technology. AI continues to pose a unique challenge for regulators due to its rapid expansion as a consumer product and potential defense applications.
Continue Reading Commerce Takes on AI: Recent Developments from BIS on AI
On October 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Treasury released a pre-publication version of its final rule containing the outbound investment regulations.
Continue Reading At Long Last, Final Rule for Outbound Investment Regulations Published
You know who your friends are. You’ve known them for a long time, you understand one another, and, importantly, you trust each other.
Continue Reading The Benefits of Friends: Removing Space Export Controls for Allies (Part III of IV)
In 2021, the EU adopted an updated version of the EU Dual-Use Regulation, which establishes common standards for the control of dual-use item exports by EU member states. Among its new provisions, Regulation (EU) 2021/821 introduced, in its Article 5, a “catch-all control” for cyber-surveillance items.
Continue Reading EU’s New Export Due Diligence Guidelines: Keeping Tabs on Cyber-Surveillance Technology
In a land before time (technologically speaking . . . so, like, the mid-nineties), the most basic software encryption functions were controlled under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The then-current version of Netscape or Lotus Notes (the hot tech of the era) were controlled under the same regulatory regime as missiles and fighter jets. Then, in 1996, an executive order moved encryption to commercial export controls and freed up the software industry to flourish into its current, omnipresent state.
Continue Reading The Commercial Industry Gets More Space: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part II of IV)
We may imagine that a space company begins with only a few screws and some sheet metal in a garage.[1] But regardless of its origins, not long after that early phase, that same company is likely to have a global reach. Commercial space companies inherently involve elements such as international supply chains, foreign customers, and design and engineering talent from around the world.
Continue Reading Space Rules, or . . . Space Rules!: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part I of IV)
“Every export—every single one—has a related financial transaction”
Continue Reading Banks Do Export, Too: New BIS Guidance Tags Financial Firms with Export Compliance Responsibilities