Insights on International Trade & Investment

The following alert is the fourth installment from Birgit Matthiesen for a planned series of cross-border trade updates.

The 2015 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 50 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 15 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country.

Last week, the US Department of Justice in New York unsealed a 47-count indictment against 14 defendants and at the same time numerous FIFA officials and other persons were arrested as they gathered for annual FIFA meeting in Zurich.

Canada’s National Contact Point (NCP) recently sanctioned China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (China Gold) for its unwillingness to participate in consultations under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) regarding China Gold’s mining activities in Tibet.

According to Lumber Liquidators’ most recent Securities and Exchange (SEC) disclosures, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is pursuing criminal charges against the company under the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3371-3378) for allegedly importing products containing illegally harvested wood.

On May 5, 2015, the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued proposed rules concerning the transfer of certain items from US Munitions List Category XII to the Commerce Control List as part of the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative.

This is the third installment from Birgit Matthiesen for a planned series of cross-border trade updates.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has informed a US district court that it may not be proposing regulations requiring energy and mining companies to disclose payments to governments for the extraction of natural resources until spring 2016.

Iran and the United States, along with Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany announced that they have reached an agreement on the key parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding the Iran nuclear program in exchange for the termination of certain sanctions.

The second installment from Birgit Matthiesen for a planned series of cross-border trade updates.

Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized Arent Fox’s Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring, Intellectual Property, International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution, and International Trade practices in its annual worldwide rankings of top law firms.

Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring, Intellectual Property, International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution, and International Trade practices recognized.

The stakeholder engagement process supporting the Obama Administration’s plans to develop a National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct (NAP) is well underway. Two stakeholder meetings have already occurred in New York City and Berkeley, California.

Based on recent votes in Congress, the possibility of a partial shutdown of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) activities for at least a brief period of time is looming larger. On February 27, 2015, Congress extended DHS funding for one week.

The US National Contact Point recently issued a Final Statement regarding complaints by two international labor unions that Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) engaged in conduct inconsistent with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines).

The long-awaited final Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) provisions modifying the Human Trafficking regulations were published on January 29, 2015.

In September 2014, Arent Fox reported about a US court case with which every corporate officer of a company doing business in the United States should become familiar.

Many companies and other stakeholders have chosen to participate in the United Nations (UN) Global Compact as a means of demonstrating their commitment to integrating universal Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles into their business practices.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations can lead to significant collateral consequences.

Your company has been asked by a customer to certify that its products manufactured in US plants are in compliance with “Buy American” requirements. How does your company respond?

Your company has been asked by a customer to certify that its products manufactured in US plants are in compliance with “Buy American” requirements. How does your company respond?

In 2014, the Departments of State and Commerce implemented final rules that overhauled 11 United States Munitions List (USML) Categories. These changes have affected a wide range of industries.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security released their much-anticipated regulations governing trade with Cuba, and they were published in the Federal Register and became effective on January 16, 2015.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development announced an enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy when it released a report entitled “Doing Business the Canadian Way: A Strategy to Advance Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada’s Extractive Sector Abroad.”