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Reid is the Managing Partner of Sheppard Mullin's London office, practicing in international trade regulations and investigations.

UPDATE: On February 5, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order delaying the cancellation of de minimis until “adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue applicable”. Imports from China below the value of $800 will generally not be subject to the 10% tariff or Section 301 duties.Continue Reading The First Wave: U.S. Imposes Tariffs on Canada (or not?), Mexico (or not?), and China (well, yeah, probably so)

The wine industry faced significant challenges due to tariffs imposed by President Trump’s first administration. During the presidential campaign, and since his election on November 5, 2024, President Trump has made it clear that he will enact higher tariffs as a key part of the political agenda of his second administration. A few days ago, he nominated Jamieson Greer as his pick for U.S. Trade Representative as the nation’s top trade official, who served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, then U.S. Trade Representative during Trump’s first term; if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mr. Greer is expected “to pursue an ambitious trade agenda.” This post highlights the history of Trump’s tariffs on wine, their effects, and what might be expected in his new term.Continue Reading The Impact of Trump’s Tariffs on the Wine Industry: Past and Future

On December 2, 2024, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a new set of regulations targeting semiconductors manufacturing equipment (SME) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The updates are a part of BIS’s ongoing efforts to target semiconductors in attempt to slow down China’s advancement of AI. In the race to artificial general intelligence, advanced-node semiconductors play an outsized role in a country or company’s ability to progress.Continue Reading The Persistence of (High Bandwidth) Memory: Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment and Korean Semiconductor Manufactures Face Harsher Restrictions Under New HBM Rules

You have always dreamed of going to space. All of us have at some point or another. And the only thing standing between you and that dream were overly-restrictive commodity and technology export licensing requirements on certain space items to specified countries! (well, that, and gravity, and the fact that you are not a billionaire[1], and maybe a few other things).Continue Reading Ticket to Ride – The Commercial Space Activity Exception and Space Tourism: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part IV of IV)

In a land before time (technologically speaking . . . so, like, the mid-nineties), the most basic software encryption functions were controlled under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The then-current version of Netscape or Lotus Notes (the hot tech of the era) were controlled under the same regulatory regime as missiles and fighter jets. Then, in 1996, an executive order moved encryption to commercial export controls and freed up the software industry to flourish into its current, omnipresent state.Continue Reading The Commercial Industry Gets More Space: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part II of IV)

We may imagine that a space company begins with only a few screws and some sheet metal in a garage.[1] But regardless of its origins, not long after that early phase, that same company is likely to have a global reach. Commercial space companies inherently involve elements such as international supply chains, foreign customers, and design and engineering talent from around the world.Continue Reading Space Rules, or . . . Space Rules!: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part I of IV)

This week of September 16, Paris will play host to the biggest spectacle of the year (sorry, Olympics), the World Space Business Week. Attendees will come from around the world to discuss advancements in commercial space and global satellite infrastructure. However, it will be the representatives of Australian, UK, and U.S. companies that may have the most to talk about.Continue Reading A (r)AUKUS Discussion in the Space Industry

As we pass the midpoint of a year marked by assertive enforcement of dual use laws, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an updated version of its Don’t Let This Happen to You! Guide. That guide, which was last updated in March 2024, includes numerous case examples illustrating BIS’s criminal and administrative enforcement actions. The update also comes with two additional BIS publications addressing measures to reduce diversion risks and a six-year review of BIS’s licensing strategy.Continue Reading BIS Summer Update: Essential Reading for Your Next Beach Trip!