Author: Dave Townsend
Dave focuses on advising clients on international trade and transactions, including U.S. economic sanctions, export controls, customs law, and national-security related matters. He also represents clients in antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard proceedings as well as matters involving the World Trade Organization and U.S. free trade agreements.
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On August 16, 2020, the United States re-imposed Section 232 tariffs on Canadian-origin primary aluminum imports, adding another twist to the long-standing trade dispute with Canada over its aluminum exports to the United States. This tariff action followed a proclamation issued by President Trump dated 6 August 2020.[1] Citing an 87% surge in imports of primary aluminum from Canada since a tariff truce announced in May 2019, the Trump administration re-imposed a 10% tariff on these imports. This re-imposition of tariffs is happening despite the recent entry into force of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) in July 2020. Canada promptly retaliated in kind by announcing countermeasure tariffs on certain U.S. aluminum goods. In early...
The governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada signed a trade agreement (“USMCA”) in November 2018, which would replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). The Trump administration has begun seeking support in the U.S. Congress for USMCA. The path for the agreement, however, remains uncertain, with criticisms leveled against USMCA from both Democrats and Republicans. USMCA will adjust the existing NAFTA trade framework in certain ways, such as increasing the regional content requirement for automotive goods, providing greater market access in Canada for U.S. milk producers, and requiring Mexico to implement measures that will enhance organized labor activities. In addition, the USMCA contains new provisions that were unaddressed by...
Now that Canada allows using and producing marijuana and marijuana-related products, and bordering U.S. states like Washington, Maine, and Michigan have similarly relaxed marijuana-related laws, it seems natural that industries on both sides of the border will look for cross-border business opportunities. But cross-border transactions between the Canadian and U.S. marijuana industries face a potentially insurmountable obstacle: items primarily intended for the marijuana industry are considered prohibited drug paraphernalia and are illegal to import into or export from the United States. We refer to this statute as the Paraphernalia Statute. The Paraphernalia Statute prohibits paraphernalia from being imported into, exported from, or transported across U.S. state lines. The statute also prohibits the use of the...
