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Lisa Mays

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Lisa Mays is an associate in the Governmental Practice in the firm's Orange County office. She is lead associate of the firm’s Transportation Team.

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On July 22, 2024, the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a significant planned extension to its recordkeeping requirements, which will increase the retention period from five to ten years. OFAC expects to publish an interim final rule to provide an opportunity to comment. The change will increase compliance obligations for entities engaged in transactions subject to U.S. sanctions.Continue Reading SoL Long to Short Limits: The Sequel — A Decade of Recordkeeping and Enforcement

The U.S. State Department has proposed amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to increase the fees required for Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) registration. The ITAR requires persons engaging in manufacturing, exporting, temporarily importing, or brokering of any defense articles or services register with DDTC. This proposed rule marks the first adjustment to the registration fee structure in over fifteen years.Continue Reading ITAR Fees Overhaul: Navigating the New Registration Costs

In an era where technological prowess and economic security are more entangled than ever, the United States has refined its approach towards restricting outbound investments. As we have been blogging since 2022, the past two years have seen efforts to restrict outbound investments for national security reasons. Those efforts come both from Congress through legislation and the White House through Executive Order.Continue Reading Proposed Outbound Investment Regulations: Understanding the New Restrictions on U.S. Outbound Investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Semiconductors, and Quantum Computing

Last year, we published an update on BIS’s foray into prohibiting EAR99 items for export to Russia and Belarus. We noted (somewhat in jest) that kitchen sinks may one day be added. Well, that day has come. Stainless steel kitchen sinks are officially prohibited for export to Russia and Belarus.Continue Reading Now Including the Kitchen Sink: Expansion of Export Controls on Russia Adds Restrictions on Low-Level Items and Software

The solar industry is starting to get whiplash. Over the past year in particular, the industry has experienced a whirlwind of regulatory changes making solar tariffs some of the most complex tariffs in all of U.S. importing history. We should not expect the changes to lessen as the solar industry remains a focus for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and consumers. Given this frenetic pace (plus the upcoming June 28 deadline for public comments on the recent Section 301 duty increases), we provide this guide to current tariff and trade actions as a guide to help those in the industry keep afloat.Continue Reading Navigating the Solarscape: Our Handy Solar Tariffs Cheat Sheet

Effective April 24, the statute of limitations (“SoL”) under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (“TWEA”) has been extended from five to ten years. It would have been easy to miss this change, buried within a supplemental emergency appropriation bill (H.R. 815) signed into law by President Biden on April 24, 2024, but its impacts will be profound for entities facing internal or government investigations for sanctions violations.Continue Reading Say SoL Long to Short Limits: Doubling Down on the Sanctions Statute of Limitations

Key Takeaways

Continue Reading China Semiconductor Export Regulations, Episode III – What a Difference a Year Makes

The U.S. antiboycott laws and regulations have been around since the era of disco. In stark contrast to fast-moving sanctions and export controls, we rarely see updates to the antiboycott regulations or enforcement strategies. Last October, however, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced enhancements to its antiboycott enforcement strategy. As part of its implementation of this updated enforcement strategy, BIS has both expanded the scope of required antiboycott reports and flagged antiboycott compliance specifically for government contractors. These moves demonstrate how BIS plans to focus its enforcement efforts on Federal contractors.Continue Reading Antiboycott Update for Government Contractors and More

On August 9, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order (E.O.) ordering the issuance of outbound investment restrictions. This E.O. comes after nearly a year of anticipation (as we have documented on several occasions over the past year). This is the start of the reverse Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process that has been mostly speculation (and blog articles) until yesterday. In conjunction, the Treasury Department issued a press release, fact sheet, and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking comments from the public on the proposed restrictions by September 28.Continue Reading Reverse CFIUS Unveiled: Focus on China, Semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing

On March 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released proposed guidance clarifying how manufacturers may meet the critical minerals and battery sourcing requirements for the clean vehicle tax credit under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”). The IRA substantially modified the tax credit incentive structure of the Internal Revenue Code as it relates to electric vehicles (“EV”). As the demand for lithium and critical minerals is higher than ever, taxpayers and EV manufacturers alike have been eagerly anticipating this guidance.Continue Reading Tax Credits for Electric Vehicle Batteries Under the Inflation Reduction Act: Free Trade Agreement Edition

On May 16, 2023, President Joseph Biden vetoed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would have nullified the temporary moratorium on the collection of antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) duties on imports of certain solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. See House Joint Resolution (H.J. Res.) 39.Continue Reading Biden Veto Maintains Solar Tariff Moratorium