Category: International Trade

UK to Adopt New Powers Over M&A Activity to Protect National Security

Draft legislation currently being debated in the UK Parliament will introduce a new regime similar to that of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) while maintaining the UK’s position as an attractive forum for business and an openness to foreign investment. While the National Security and Investment Act (“NSIA”) will not...

CFIUS Expands Foreign Investments Subject to Scrutiny with Significant Carve-out for Canadian, Australian and U.K. Investors

On January 17, 2020, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) published two new rules that will greatly expand the scope of minority investments by foreign persons in U.S. businesses that are subject to CFIUS review. The rules take effect on February 13, 2020. Importantly for certain Canadian investors, the rules include...

Trump Administration Targets Canadian and other Foreign Companies Involved in Cuba

Canadian companies with interests in Cuba should take note of our recent eUpdate, Trump Administration Allows Lawsuits Against Persons Who Have Used Assets Confiscated by the Cuban Government, Imposes More Sanctions on Venezuela and Nicaragua, regarding new potential exposure to litigation in the United States. On April 17, 2019, the Trump Administration announced that U.S....

US-Mexico-Canada Agreement Faces Uncertain Path Through U.S. Congress

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...

Canada-U.S. Trade in Marijuana-Related Products is Fraught with Peril

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...

NAFTA Replacement Announced

On Sunday, September 30, 2018, the U.S. and Canadian governments announced that they had reached agreement on a new trilateral trade agreement with Mexico, which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This long-awaited text, released late in the day as the “United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” is now available for public inspection.[1] The...

Trump Administration Announces NAFTA Renegotiation

After months of public pronouncements on the future, including threatened withdrawal from, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Trump Administration announced on May 18, 2017, its intention to begin negotiations with Canada and Mexico. Signed by Robert Lighthizer, the newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative, the notification letters to Congressional leaders do not contain...