Practice Areas
International Trade
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February 22, 2012
House Bill Would Allow Countervailing Duties On China
A bill introduced Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives would allow the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose countervailing duties on imports from China, effectively negating a Federal Circuit ruling that Commerce lacks the authority to do so.
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February 22, 2012
Cobalt Reveals FCPA Probe Of Angola Oil Business
U.S. regulators have launched a formal probe into allegations that one of Cobalt International Energy Inc.’s oil drilling contractors bribed foreign officials in Angola, Cobalt said Tuesday.
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February 22, 2012
Ex-KBR Exec Gets Probation, Fine For Nigerian Bribes
A former executive for one-time Halliburton Co. subsidiary KBR Inc. was sentenced Wednesday in Texas federal court to one year of unsupervised probation and a $20,000 fine for his part in a scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials for natural gas contracts.
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February 22, 2012
EU Suspends ACTA Ratification For High Court Inspection
Facing stiff criticism and protests, the European Commission said Wednesday that it was referring the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement to the European Court of Justice to independently clarify the legality of the pact.
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February 22, 2012
McKinsey Consultant Could Be Retried Over Iran Embargo
The Second Circuit on Wednesday amended its partial dismissal of a McKinsey & Co. consultant's conviction for violating the U.S. embargo of Iran, saying it should have sent the counts it dismissed back to the trial court rather than toss them outright.
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February 22, 2012
Vietnam Takes US Shrimp Duties Back To WTO
Vietnam on Monday launched another dispute in the World Trade Organization over U.S. anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese shrimp exports, following the judicial body's earlier condemnation of the U.S.' use of zeroing to calculate the duties.
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February 22, 2012
CIT Backs Commerce's Duties On Indian Shrimp Importer
The U.S. Court of International Trade on Tuesday upheld the U.S. Department of Commerce’s refusal to prorate an Indian shrimp importer's selling expense when determining anti-dumping duties, finding the figures did not conflict with calculations set in prior reviews.
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February 21, 2012
China, US Reach Blockbuster Deal In WTO Film Fight
The U.S. and China have reached an agreement to increase exports of American tent-pole films by more than 50 percent, resolving a long-standing World Trade Organization dispute over Beijing’s movie import restrictions, Vice President Joe Biden announced Friday.
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February 21, 2012
US Chamber, Others Seek Clarity On FCPA Enforcement
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 33 other business organizations on Tuesday sent a letter to the federal government seeking explanations of various provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, saying a lack of clarity is bad for business.
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February 21, 2012
US, Mexico Open 1.5M Acres In Gulf For Drilling
The U.S. and Mexican governments struck an agreement Monday to open some 1.5 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico along the countries' maritime boundary for joint oil and gas development.
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February 21, 2012
Fed. Circ. Affirms Aromont Meat, Veggie Stock Tariff Win
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday upheld food importer Aromont USA Inc.'s successful challenge to the 100 percent duty rates assessed on its meat and vegetable stock products, finding that the imports had been misclassified.
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February 21, 2012
FDA Calls For Voluntary Reporting Amid Drug Shortages
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued detailed guidelines encouraging pharmaceutical and biologics manufacturers to voluntarily report problems that may cause drug shortages, and announced the temporary importation of an unapproved foreign drug to relieve the Doxil shortage.
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February 21, 2012
Trade Deal To Open S. Korean Market For US Goods
A free trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea — which is expected to lower tariffs on hundreds of U.S. exports and support at least 250,000 American jobs — will go into effect March 15, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
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February 21, 2012
Zeroing Fight To Continue Despite DOC's Vow To Change
Despite a recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce that it will stop using zeroing in administrative reviews of anti-dumping duties, the years-long battle over the controversial methodology is far from over, attorneys say.
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February 21, 2012
Feds Give Up On Massive Gabon FCPA Case
The federal government on Tuesday dropped its vast Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case accusing more than 20 military equipment industry executives of bribing Gabonese officials to win business, ending years of unsuccessful prosecution and dealing a major setback to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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February 17, 2012
Apple Didn't Step On HTC Smartphone Patent: ITC
The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday handed Apple Inc. victory in a suit brought by HTC Corp., upholding an administrative law judge's initial determination that Apple hadn't infringed one of HTC's patents covering smartphone technology and ending its investigation.
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February 17, 2012
SEC Subpoenas Halliburton Over FCPA Probe
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has hit Halliburton Co. with a subpoena related to a company investigation into its Angolan operations for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the energy services giant disclosed Thursday.
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February 17, 2012
9th Circ. Tosses Enviro Group's Turtle Protection Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected an environmental group's bid to revive a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of State of failing to properly consider whether foreign fleets harmed sea turtles in the process of capturing shrimp later sold in the U.S.
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February 17, 2012
Novartis Must Note Blood Pressure Drug Risks On EU Labels
A European regulator warned on Friday that Novartis AG’s blood pressure drug Rasilez should not be prescribed to certain patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes or kidney problems, and called for warnings to be included in the labeling of such medications in the European Union.
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February 17, 2012
Hughes Hubbard Atty Named To State Dept. Sanctions Panel
Amanda DeBusk, chair of the international trade department at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, has been appointed to the sanctions subcommittee of the U.S. Department of State's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, the firm announced Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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'Buy American' And Solar Devices — DOD Clarification
The U.S. Department of Defense's interim rule implementing the "Buy American" requirement for photovoltaic devices being purchased by the DOD should provide greater clarity for contractors regarding the types of products that will satisfy the new requirement, as well as how the requirement will be implemented, say attorneys with Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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Marubeni — Extending FCPA's Jurisdictional Reach
In its case against Marubeni Corp., it is possible that the U.S. Department of Justice is attempting to expand the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's jurisdictional reach through the use of aiding and abetting charges, say Daniel Levison and Jarod Taylor of Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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Law School, Meet Litigation PR ...
The single most important thing law schools can do to manage their reputations in the face of litigation is apply the lessons learned from Wall Street during the recent financial crisis and strive for transparency in all communications. One need only look to Goldman Sachs’ woes or the struggles of Jon Corzine’s MF Global as examples of the catastrophic results of a campaign based on anything but complete honesty, says Spencer Baretz of Hellerman Baretz Communications.
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Bringing Back Anti-Dumping And Countervailing Duty Cases
While trade litigation cases are still far fewer in frequency than in their heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, recent developments in the economy and the application of targeted dumping have brought an increase in activity and interest on the part of domestic producers to initiate trade actions against foreign producers, say Matthew Nolan and Nancy Noonan of Arent Fox LLP.
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10 Lessons From 2011 Enforcement Activity
The cases brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 solidify the SEC's and the DOJ's well-settled positions on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement. There are 10 lessons from these actions that are likely to influence how 2012 will unfold, say Claudius Sokenu and Arthur Luk of Arnold & Porter LLP.
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Is Dubai 'The Comeback Kid'?
Dubai appears to be building its recovery on foundations far stronger than its once high-octane property market. It is focusing once more on sharpening its expertise as an entrepot of regional trade, says Rovine Chandrasekera of Stephenson Harwood.
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Failure Of Proof: US V. O'Shea
In U.S. v. O’Shea, the acquittal of a former ABB Ltd. manager of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations appears to serve as a reminder of the difference between information that may be a powerful lever in bringing about a guilty plea and evidence that is required to prevail at trial, say attorneys with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.
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Using The Clayton Act To Disentangle The FTAIA
Since its inception in 1982, dozens of cases have struggled to interpret the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act, originally conceived to "clarify" the Sherman Act's extraterritorial reach. In practice, disentangling the Sherman Act from the Clayton Act would allow for more thoughtful and predictable decisions in such cases, says James Martin of Dickstein Shapiro LLP.
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Revised Removal Statutes — Possibilities, Pitfalls: Part 2
The Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 has brought about substantial clarification in the federal removal, jurisdiction and venue statutes. But the act still leaves substantial ambiguity in place when it comes to the scope of these statutes, say Colin Wrabley and Douglas Allen of Reed Smith LLP.
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You Say Brokering, I Say Facilitation
By removing and adding just a few key words to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations brokering regulations, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls' proposed changes turn the brokering regulations into a facilitation — or "gray area" — regulation, says Steven Brotherton of Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy LLP.