International Law

Much as was anticipated, the European Commission (the Commission) announced its long-awaited proposals on Jan. 25, 2012, on what are likely to be viewed as drastic changes to data protection law in Europe. The aim of the proposals is to make EU privacy laws fit for the 21st century, and they seek to both change the system and increase penalties for breach, with fines of up to 2% of a corporation's annual global turnover.

The European Union’s rules on government procurement have traditionally been admirably open and non-discriminatory, with none of the "Buy Local" preferences found elsewhere in the world.

On January 25, 2012, the European Commission unveiled its draft legislative proposals to revamp privacy rules in the European Union (EU).

The United States is currently party to 48 Bilateral Investment Treaties, including seven that have been signed but not yet ratified.

Global enforcement of anti-corruption laws is at an all-time high and unlikely to recede any time soon.

The CCL is a dual-use list subject to a lower level of control. The Canadian equivalent of the USML is the Defence Production Act.

If you are seeking a new temporary duty suspension or duty reduction for a product you import, or if you want to extend an existing reduction or suspension beyond 2012, you have until Monday, April 30 to seize the opportunity or risk waiting several years before getting another chance.

Two committees of the United States Congress recently announced the opportunity to participate in a possible Miscellaneous Tariff Bill ("MTB"), which would collect requests for temporary reduction or cancellation of import duties on specific products.

On March 21, 2012, the US State Department, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), issued a final rule amending the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to implement the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty (Treaty) between the United States and the United Kingdom.

For those you working in the wonderful world of Global Trade Compliance it's quite obvious that lately tariff regulations seem a little more subject to frequent change.

President Trump issued two major tariff-related executive orders in the past 48 hours. The first, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), authorizes the Secretary of State to impose tariffs on imports from any country that imports Venezuelan oil (the White House Fact Sheet is here)

Another busy month in international trade news – new tariffs, copper & lumber investigation, WTO disputes, and more. Here's the full roundup: