On December 18, 2020, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register a notice [Docket No. 201214-0339] announcing that on November 23, 2020, the Secretary of Commerce terminated an investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, which was initiated on May 19, 2020, to determine whether imports of mobile cranes threatened to impair the national security. Notice of the investigation and a request for public comments was published in the Federal Register on May 26, 2020. The investigation was originally requested in an application submitted by the Manitowoc Company, Inc. (“Manitowoc”) on December 19, 2019.

On September 8, 2020, the BIS received a formal request from Manitowoc to withdraw its application and terminate the investigation. Manitowoc stated that the current economic environment is very different from when Manitowoc submitted the application in December 2019, given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Secretary of Commerce has evaluated the request to withdraw and has determined that it is appropriate to terminate the investigation.

See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-12-18/pdf/2020-27863.pdf

On December 16, 2020,  US Department of the Treasury delivered to Congress the semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States. Treasury determined that both Vietnam and Switzerland are currency manipulators.

See https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/206/December-2020-FX-Report-FINAL.pdf

On 7 October 2020, the European Commission adopted the revised Annex I (the “Dual-Use List“) to Regulation 428/2009 (the “Dual-Use Regulation“). The new Dual-Use List came into force on 15 December 2020.

See https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2020:421:TOC

On December 14, 2020, the US Government announced Sudan’s removal from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (the “SST List”).  This rescission of Sudan as an SST follows an agreement in October for Sudan to be removed from the list and the lapse of a 45 day congressional notification period.

See https://www.state.gov/sudans-state-sponsor-of-terrorism-designation-rescinded/

On December 3, 2020, the Department of Defense announced its third list of “Communist Chinese military companies” operating in the United States, pursuant to Section 1237 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, as amended (“Section 1237”).  The practical impact of the announcement is that these four companies become subject to Executive Order 13959, which restricts US investment in these companies.

See https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2434513/dod-releases-list-of-additional-companies-in-accordance-with-section-1237-of-fy/utm_campaign/Marketing_Cloud/utm_medium/email/?utm_source=Washington+Update+12.4.2020&%20utm_content=https%3a%2f%2fwww.defense.gov%2fNewsroom%2fReleases%2fRelease%2fArticle%2f2434513%2fdod-releases-list-of-additional-companies-in-accordance-with-section-1237-of-fy%2f