Perspectives on National Security

President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) (TikTok EO) August 6, 2020, banning “transactions” yet to be identified by the US Department of Commerce (Commerce) related to TikTok and its parent ByteDance Ltd.

As the US technology competition with China continues to intensify, the Trump Administration has taken another step to tighten the screws on China.

On July 14, the US Court of International Trade granted judgment in favor of an importer of steel from Turkey, ruling that there are limits on a president’s power to impose tariffs for national security purposes.

On Friday, May 15, 2020, the Department of Commerce and the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) revised an arcane export control rule that imposes US export controls on foreign-origin products (hardware, software, and technology) that are the “direct product” of certain US technology.

On April 4, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 13913, “Establishing the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector.” 

In recent years, the US Government has grown increasingly concerned by China’s official policy of “military-civil fusion” (MCF), and multiple national security agencies have sounded the alarm bell.

On January 13, 2020, the Treasury Department, on behalf of the full Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), released the comprehensive final regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). The final regulations take effect on February 13,

In FIRRMA and ECRA, Congress essentially gave Commerce authority to decide how narrowly or widely to set the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over non-passive minority investments involving emerging and foundational technologies.

On September 17, 2019, the Treasury Department, on behalf of the full Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, released the long-awaited comprehensive draft regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA).

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is an interagency federal body that screens inbound foreign investments for national security risks, and it is currently putting the finishing touches on its draft regulations to implement FIRRMA.

In recent years, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has taken a much stronger interest in the national security ramifications of sensitive data falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, including the sensitive personal data of American citizens.

The DoD, General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a key provision of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19 NDAA). 

The US Senate is poised to confirm Tom Feddo to run CFIUS as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security, increasing the bandwidth of CFIUS at a critical time in its history.

We’ve all seen the funny faces appearing across the internet as friends and family use the FaceApp to see what they may look like in 30 to 50 years. The resulting images are wrinkled and gray, but the trade made—instead of the time to age—was data.

In August of last year, President Trump signed into law the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA), a sweeping overhaul of the operations and jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is currently drafting the implementing regulations for the FIRRMA which was enacted this past August and represents the most sweeping set of changes to the processes and jurisdiction of CFIUS in its 44-year history.

Headlines that matter for privacy and data security

WASHINGTON, DC — Arent Fox LLP is pleased to announce the expansion of its International Trade and National Security practices with the addition of Partner David R. Hanke.

Guess was recently tagged by the European Commission for engaging in “geo-blocking,” a practice by which consumers are restricted from accessing certain Internet content based upon geographical location.

Headlines that matter for privacy and data security.

On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States is withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

At the end of January 2018, the Trump Administration took two actions related to the Russia/Ukraine sanctions program under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (CAATSA), the law that President Trump signed on August 2, 2017.

International Trade Practice Group Leader Kay Georgi and Counsel Regan Alberda discussed economic sanctions under President Donald Trump in an article for The Current: The Journal of the PLI Press.

Right before the holidays, President Trump and his Administration took significant steps toward using economic sanctions to tackle international human rights abuses and corruption.