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On May 16, 2017, the EU Court of Justice released its long-awaited opinion on the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (“FTA” ) (“the Agreement”) (full text here). Back in July 2015, after the EU and Singapore completed trade negotiations, the European Commission sought clarity on its authority to conclude complex deals.

The following questions submitted by the Commission have now been answered:

Continue Reading ECJ Issues Opinion on Singapore FTA: Answers to Guide Brexit Trade Negotiators

On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly-anticipated decision in U.S. v. Halkbank,[1] holding that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”)[2] does not provide foreign sovereigns with immunity from criminal prosecution in U.S. courts. 

Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Holds FSIA Does Not Immunize Foreign Sovereigns From Criminal Prosecution

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) recently released its 2020 annual report, which provides information and statistics regarding transactions reviewed by CFIUS in 2020.[1]  For the first time, the 2020 annual report also includes information regarding so-called non-notified transactions identified and reviewed by CFIUS. Continue Reading CFIUS Releases 2020 Annual Report

On August 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a final rule[1] that further tightens restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) on Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and its affiliates designated on the Entity List administered by BIS (“Huawei”) (the “Final Rule”).  The Final Rule: (i) expands the prohibition on providing items manufactured with controlled U.S. technology or software to Huawei to include all items transferred to Huawei or for a Huawei device, whether or not specifically designed by or for Huawei ; (ii) removes most of the Temporary General License (“TGL”) that permitted some transactions involving Huawei, including activities that support existing networks and equipment; and (iii) added 38 non-U.S. affiliates of Huawei to the Entity List.  The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on August 20, but became effective upon being made available for public inspection on August 17.

In a contemporaneous final rule,[2] BIS clarified that license requirements for entities included on the Entity List apply regardless of the role that the listed entity has in the transaction (i.e., purchaser, intermediate consignee, ultimate consignee or end-user) (the “Entity List Final Rule”).  This clarification applies to all entities on the Entity List, not just Huawei. Continue Reading BIS Further Tightens Export Restrictions on Huawei

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) recently released its 2019 annual report, which provides information and statistics regarding transactions reviewed by CFIUS during 2019.  CFIUS released its 2018 annual report (as well as summary data for transactions reviewed in 2019) last month, which we wrote about here.  The 2019 annual report confirms and expands on the more limited 2019 data released last month.

Key takeaways include: (i) the number of CFIUS notices has remained relatively consistent over the past three years; (ii) the percentage of notices that proceeded to a second-stage investigation decreased significantly from 69% in 2018 to 48.9% in 2019; (iii) the percentage of notices withdrawn and refiled decreased from 18.6% and 18.3% in 2017 and 2018, respectively, to 7.8% in 2019; and (iv) only 4.3% of transactions reviewed by CFIUS during 2019 were abandoned as a result of CFIUS issues, compared to 10.5% and 8.7% in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Continue Reading CFIUS Releases 2019 Annual Report

On September 6, 2017, Belgium requested an opinion from the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) on whether the investment protection rules set out in Chapter Eight of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”) conform to EU Treaties. This request stems from the last-minute deal between Belgium and its regional governments on October 27, 2016, which essentially sought to appease Wallonia’s concerns regarding investor protection and the new Investment Court System (“ICS”) and unblocking domestic opposition to the signing of CETA.

Continue Reading Belgium Requests Opinion on Legality of Investment Court System in CETA

Background

Fifteen years ago, China joined the World Trade Organization (“WTO”). To alleviate concerns of cheap Chinese goods flooding international markets at that time, China agreed to allow other WTO members to continue conducting their anti-dumping calculations in a special way, thereby recognizing the concerns of certain members that prices of Chinese goods could be distorted due to state interference. This methodology considered China as a “non-market economy” (“NME”). In a nutshell, this means other countries can disregard Chinese prices or costs, and can use “alternative methods” (external benchmarks, such as hypothetical costs of a third country) to determine the margin of dumping in an investigation. In doing so, authorities will typically end up levying higher anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods.

Continue Reading Anti-Dumping, Non-Market Economy and Chinese Goods – Where Do We Stand in the EU?

It took eight years to get to this point, but the dramatic rollercoaster of Canada-EU free trade negotiations will soon start to bear fruit. On May 11, 2017, the Canadian Senate passed Bill C-30, the CETA Implementation Act. Royal Assent was received on May 16. Earlier, on February 15, 2017, the European Parliament approved the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”). This means that the path will very soon be clear for most of the agreement to be applied on a provisional basis, pending institution of relevant Canadian regulations.

Continue Reading Opening Doors to European and Canadian Companies: Imminent Provisional Application of CETA