On June 15, 2020, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an interim final rule (“Interim Final Rule”) effective on June 18, 2020 to authorize the limited release of certain items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to Huawei and its affiliates listed on the BIS Entity List (“Huawei Listed Entities”) in the context of international efforts to develop technical standards for 5G and other new technologies.  In a statement, the Commerce Department explained the change will “ensure Huawei’s placement on the Entity List in May 2019 does not prevent American companies from contributing to important standards-developing activities despite Huawei’s pervasive participation in standards-development organizations.” BIS is seeking comments on the Interim Final Rule, which must be submitted on or before August 17, 2020.

See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-06-18/pdf/2020-13093.pdf

On June 10, 2020, the Department of State published in the Federal Register a request for comments regarding certain temporary suspensions, modifications, and exceptions to several provisions of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) recently issued in order to ensure continuity of operations within the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and among entities registered with DDTC pursuant to the ITAR during the current SARS-COV2 public health emergency.  Comments are due by June 25, 2020.

See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-06-10/pdf/2020-12580.pdf

On June 8, 2020, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice that announces the USTR’s determination to make a technical amendment to one previously granted exclusion: U.S. note 20(q)(131) to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is modified by deleting “each valued over $20 but not over $35” and inserting “each valued not over $35” in lieu thereof. The amendment is retroactive to the date of publication of the original exclusion. and does not extend the period for the original exclusion.

See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-06-08/pdf/2020-12318.pdf

On June 3, 2020, the US Department of Transportation notified several Chinese airlines that “responding to the failure of the Government of the People’s Republic of China (China) to permit U.S. carriers to exercise the full extent of their bilateral right to conduct scheduled passenger air services to and from China, is suspending the scheduled passenger operations of all Chinese carriers to and from the United States. This order will become effective on June 16, 2020.“

See https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2020-06/China%20Part%20213%20Phase%20Order%2020120-6-1%20Final.pdf

On June 2, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that his office is beginning investigations into digital services taxes that have been adopted or are being considered by a number of our trading partners. The investigations will be conducted under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. This provision gives the USTR broad authority to investigate and respond to a foreign country’s action which may be unfair or discriminatory and negatively affect US Commerce. On June 5, 2020, USTR published in the Federal Register the formal notice [Docket No. USTR-2020-0022] that provides details of the investigations as well as information on how members of the public can provide their views through written submissions. The Federal Register notice states that USTR is initiating investigations with respect to Digital Services Taxes (DSTs) adopted or under consideration by Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

See https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2020/june/ustr-initiates-section-301-investigations-digital-services-taxes 

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-06-05/pdf/2020-12216.pdf