This is the final in our 2025 Year in Preview series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the coming year. Our previous post, "False Claims Act in 2025: Looking Back and What's Ahead" can be found here.
Throughout 2024, enforcement of international trade laws
continued to gather pace while the primary targets of enforcement
were familiar ones: China, Russia, and Iran. Numerous government
agencies issued enforcement regulations and guidance. With the new
administration in the U.S., however, there appear to be new
priorities. On one hand, the Trump administration may use sanctions
and export controls as a tool to broker a resolution to
Russia's war on Ukraine. If successful, however, we could see a
rapid reduction in enforcement with respect to Russia-related
actions. In the interim, a previously unified Western position on
Russia is fracturing, increasing the prospect that enforcement
risks for companies operating in Russia will be greater under EU
and UK laws than under U.S. law. On the other hand, the Trump
administration has shown signs that it intends to more closely
focus on China and Iran—which could result in potential
increased enforcement related to those jurisdictions. Initial
indications also clearly demonstrate that, under the Trump
administration, the enforcement environment for non-U.S. companies
may be more challenging than for U.S. companies, especially for
companies in jurisdictions that the Trump administration targets
for trade-related countermeasures (such as tariffs).
On the EU side, the EU is likely to stay focused on steadily and
consistently applying sanctions against Russia, as it did
throughout 2024. But the intensity may depend on each Member
State's respective approach to Russian sanctions—given
some tend to be more aggressive in this regard than others.
Nonetheless, the UK is likely to continue working closely with the
EU on its efforts to sanction Russia. The UK will also likely try
to keep coordinating with U.S. agencies, such as OFAC, to enforce
international trade regulations.
In the accompanying paper, we review international trade
enforcement in the U.S., EU, and UK in 2024, and our expectations
for 2025. We describe key 2024 developments in enforcement guidance
and important enforcement activity involving the U.S. agencies
responsible for export controls, sanctions, antiboycott, forced
labor, and CFIUS enforcement. We also discuss the transition to,
and shifting priorities of, the new Administration.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
