Foreign Investment

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On April 30, 2025, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) National Security Division (“NSD”), alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, announced a declination to prosecute Universities Space Research Association (“USRA”) for criminal export control violations committed by a former employee.[1]  This marks only the second declination issued by NSD under its Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (the “Policy”), following voluntary self-disclosure.Continue Reading DOJ National Security Division Issues Second Declination Under Corporate Enforcement Policy

For more insights and analysis from Cleary lawyers on policy and regulatory developments from a legal perspective, visit What to Expect From a Second Trump Administration.

On April 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division (“DOJ”) issued a compliance guide (“Compliance Guide”), a set of frequently asked questions (“FAQs”), and a 90-day limited enforcement policy (“Enforcement Policy”) relating to implementation of the Data Security Program, codified at 28 C.F.R. Part 202 (“DSP”).  The DSP is a regulatory program designed to prevent certain countries of concern—China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela—and covered persons from having access to Americans’ bulk sensitive personal data and U.S. government-related data.  The DSP largely went into effect on April 8, 2025. Continue Reading DOJ Issues Additional Guidance as Data Security Program Enters into Effect; Limits Enforcement for First 90 Days

For more insights and analysis from Cleary lawyers on policy and regulatory developments from a legal perspective, visit What to Expect From a Second Trump Administration.

On February 21, 2025, President Trump issued a memorandum to various U.S. government agencies setting forth an “America First Investment Policy” (the “Memorandum”).  While the Memorandum is a call to arms for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) to further restrict Chinese investments into the United States and for the U.S. government to use the recently implemented U.S. Outbound Investment Security Program (“OISP”) to restrict additional U.S. outbound investment into China (described in our alert memorandum linked here), the Memorandum also aims to facilitate inbound investment from allies and partners. Continue Reading President Trump Issues “America First Investment Policy”: Confirms U.S. Openness to Foreign Investment from Allies and Partners, Calls for Enhanced Restrictions on Investments from and into China

On February 1, President Trump issued executive orders imposing sweeping tariffs on products of Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese origin pursuant to his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1701, et seq. (IEEPA), after expanding previously-declared national emergencies to respond to the “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl.”  Continue Reading President Trump Imposes Additional Tariffs on China, Delays Tariffs on Canada and Mexico

Global FDI enforcement continued to evolve rapidly in Q4 2024, as shown by the range of developments summarized in this newsletter.Continue Reading Global FDI Newsletter: October – December 2024

The following is part of our annual publication Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2025. Explore all topics or download the PDF.

The second Trump Administration is expected to mark the return of a more transactional foreign policy approach, with an openness to dealmaking supported by the aggressive use (or threat) of trade controls. Boards should, therefore, expect the U.S. government to continue to rely on trade controls as a key foreign policy tool. Although specific actions remain uncertain, significant change is possible on a number of fronts, including sanctions relating to China, Russia, Iran, Syria and Venezuela.  Continue Reading Trade Controls: Recent Developments and Changes on the Horizon for 2025

On January 15, 2025, the European Commission (the “EC”) published a recommendation (the “Recommendation”)[1] addressed to all EU Member States urging them to review “outbound investments” in certain critical technologies sectors, notably semiconductors, artificial intelligence (“AI”), and quantum technologies.Continue Reading The EU Commission Urges Member States to Review Outbound Investments

On January 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, including the imposition of a new petroleum services ban, expanded secondary sanctions authority, and designations of certain Russian oil producers, insurance providers, and more than 180 so-called “shadow fleet” vessels.  Until this time, U.S. sanctions specific to the Russian energy sector generally were limited to a ban on maritime services for oil and petroleum products sold at or below the relevant price caps, designations of specific projects, traders, or vessels, and certain pre-2022 targeted sectoral sanctions and secondary sanctions authorities. Continue Reading OFAC Expands Sanctions against Russian Energy Sector

On January 3, 2025, President Biden issued an executive order (the “Order”) prohibiting the proposed acquisition of United States Steel Corporation (“U.S. Steel”) by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation (“Nippon Steel”) on the basis that the transaction could threaten to impair the national security of the United States (the “Order”).  The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) referred the transaction to the President on December 23, 2024.    Continue Reading President Biden Issues Order Blocking the Proposed Acquisition of United States Steel Corporation by Nippon Steel Corporation, and The Parties Sue for a New Review