The Biden administration is likely to increase export controls and sanctions enforcement in the next few years, Gibson Dunn lawyers said during a webinar this week. They also said the administration is likely to pursue enforcement in creative ways, including sometimes through disclosures with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

The State Department released the 2020 Digest of United States Practice in International Law, detailing developments in the field for the 2020 calendar year. The publication provides a record of the “views and practice of the U.S. Government in public and private international law,” the State Department said Aug. 18. The publication discusses key court decisions on topics ranging from nationality, citizenship and passports to international crimes. A section on international trade covers investment disputes under free trade agreements, World Trade Organization developments and intellectual property and Section 301 proceedings.

The International Trade Commission voted Aug. 4 to start a Section 337 investigation into certain optical encosures, components thereof, and products containing the same (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1274) made by Criterion Technology, Inc., which filed the complaint of patent infringement on July 2, alleging that products made by Velodyne Lidar USA, Inc., and Fujian Fran Optics Co., Ltd. of Fujian, China, make use of Criterion trade secrets. Criterion requests that the ITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against Velodyne and Fujian Fran.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 denied Montana and Wyoming's bid to challenge the state of Washington's rejection of a key permit to build a coal export facility. The Washington state Department of Ecology denied a water quality certificate for the facility in 2017, citing irreparable environmental damage that would flow from the facility. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have allowed the motion to proceed, according to the Supreme Court's website.

Crowell and Moring will merge with Chicago-based intellectual property boutique firm Brinks Gilson in July, the two announced. Brinks Gilson's 27 partners, 11 senior counsel, 23 counsel and associates, five registered patent agents and two scientific advisers will join Crowell and Moring. Crowell and Moring will add offices in Chicago and Indianapolis as a result, and has kicked off a process to add an office in Shenzhen, China, to join Brinks professionals already based there. This will lead the firm to become “among the most active technology protection firms in the nation, as measured by patent activity tracked by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,” a news release said. Brinks also brings to Crowell and Morning its practice's experience litigating before the International Trade Commission, including its work on Section 337 and IP enforcement. Brinks also has helped with forfeiture and seizure actions before CBP.

The Commerce Department is working with a police agency in rural Texas to help investigate illegally exported goods, an unorthodox relationship that has sparked concern among industry lawyers and led to disputed seizures.

Steptoe & Johnson launched its "Supply Chain University" -- a series of short of videos discussing the various complexities around supply chains, the firm said in a May 28 blog post. In the series, partner Jeff Weiss interviews industry and legal professionals along with academics to discuss supply chain topics such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and explore how supply chain issues overlap with nearly every industry.

Sanctions compliance is increasingly presenting challenges to companies around the world as more countries turn to sanctions as a foreign policy tool, Baker McKenzie lawyers said. Some recent challenges include the growing emphasis on sanctions enforcement and the due diligence issues presented by countries with little publicly available information on ownership chains, the lawyers said.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. and Canada could not reach an agreement on the administration of Canada's dairy tariff rate quotas, so the dispute will be decided by a panel. At issue is the fact that Canada has reserved the large majority of TRQs for Canadian processors, which means that consumer goods produced in the U.S. like ice cream, cheese or yogurt face higher tariffs in Canada because very little of the TRQ is available to Canadian retailers. Even when it's not restricted to processors, the TRQs are reserved for distributors, which means American producers cannot pitch their goods at lower prices directly to retail chains.

A U.S. public relations firm was granted a Lobbying Disclosure Act exemption to the Foreign Agents Registration Act for its work on behalf of the U.S. subsidiary of a foreign corporation relating to the Section 232 national security tariffs, the Department of Justice revealed in a FARA Advisory Opinion. Since the firm is not representing the interests of a foreign government, it was able to skirt the required FARA registration in its work seeking Section 232 tariff relief for the company. While a foreign government may indirectly benefit from the described activities, the activities clearly benefit [U.S. subsidiary of foreign corporation]’s commercial interests," the opinion said. "Accordingly, we do not dispute your claim that the LDA exemption applies." The firm and the subsidiary, along with the foreign corporation, are not named.