Member News, Trade & TTIP Related

Jaguar Freight | The Weekly Roar: Do No Harm

In this week’s Roar: Record global container volumes, China warns of tariff harm, global trade resilience in 2025, dropping diesel prices, and leadership in the supply chain. Despite plummeting US imports in 2025, global container volumes set new records as China’s exports surged to new highs by redirecting cargo to Europe, Intra-Asia, and emerging markets. Trade flows didn’t sink, they shifted. US-bound shipments fell nearly 30%, but soaring exports to the EU, Australia, and ASEAN offset any loss. The result? It could...

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Chapter News, News

ECB | Governing Council Proposes Simplification of EU Banking Rules

Governing Council endorses recommendations of High-Level Task Force on Simplification, which include: reducing the number of elements in the risk-weighted and leverage ratio framework introducing a materially simpler prudential regime for smaller banks, which expands on the existing EU regime introducing a European governance mechanism that takes a holistic view of the overall level of capital finalising the savings and investment union – including completion of the banking union – to foster cross-border integration and allow for more efficient...

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Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

European Commission | EU Introduces Customs Duties on Low-Value E-Commerce Packages

The Commission welcomes today's decision by EU Member States to introduce a €3 customs duty per item on e-commerce parcels valued below €150, starting in July 2026. The new duty will help protect the competitiveness of European businesses by levelling the playing field between e-commerce and traditional retail.   Given the rapid increase in e-commerce goods being imported into the EU, the Commission and Member States have together acknowledged the need for an urgent solution, which will bridge the gap until the setting up of the EU Customs Data Hub in 2028, as part of the EU customs reform.   The Council and the Commission are working to enable the implementation of...

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Member News

Troutman Pepper Locke | Strategic Planning for Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights Before Seeking Investment in the US: A Playbook for Foreign Investors

Executive Summary Foreign investors entering the U.S. market face compressed timelines, intense competition, and exacting diligence. Intellectual property — patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights — is a core asset of a foreign investor’s business in the U.S. that increases valuation of the U.S. entity. Yet, many foreign investors prioritize setting up a U.S. entity or other structures, selecting the physical location of a U.S. office or manufacturing site, or applying for work visas or handling other immigration matters over...

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Member News

Arendt | New EU Anti-Corruption Criminal Rules on the Horizon

On 2 December 2025, the EU reached an agreement on anticorruption rules to harmonise the approach taken across all Member States. This agreement forms the foundation of a future EU Directive. Luxembourg is among the countries perceived as the least corrupt according to Transparency International (score of 81/100, ranking 5th in the world in 2024) and has ratified the main international conventions (UN, OECD, Council of Europe). However, behind these reassuring indicators, weaknesses persist as national legislation remains fragmented and is...

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Member News, Uncategorized

Wilson Sonsini | CJEU Rules on Online Marketplaces’ Liability for User Content Under the GDPR

On December 2, 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in X v Russmedia Digital SRL (C-492/23), ruled that the operator of an online marketplace, as a data controller, is responsible for the processing of personal data contained in advertisements published on its platform, and cannot rely on the hosting liability safe harbor to avoid responsibility for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) infringements arising from unlawful processing. The decision departs from long-standing case law on the liability of hosting service...

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Chapter News, News

Council of the EU | Foreign Direct Investment: Council and Parliament Reached Political Agreement to Improve FDI Screening

The Council’s presidency and the European Parliament’s representatives reached today a provisional political agreement on the revision of the foreign direct investment (FDI) screening regulation. The updated framework aims to strengthen the EU’s ability to identify, assess and address risks posed by certain foreign investments, while preserving the openness to global trade and investment. The revised regulation builds on the functioning of the current FDI screening framework, which is key to safeguarding public order and security across the EU. The agreement strengthens the...

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Member News

PwC | Highlights of Treasury Guidance on OBBBA International Tax Items

What happened? Treasury and the IRS on December 4 issued three Notices—2025-75, 2025-77, and 2025-78—providing early guidance on several international tax provisions enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the Act or OBBBA). Notice 2025-75 announces the intent to issue proposed regulations implementing the transition rule under Section 70354(c)(2) of the Act. The transition rule affects how Section 951(a)(2)(B) reductions apply for certain dividends paid by controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) in tax years beginning before January 1, 2026. ...

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Member News, Uncategorized

Trepp | Too Late to Catch a Flick?

The big news in the mergers and acquisitions world late last week was Netflix Inc.'s agreement to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. in a deal valued at $82.7 billion. The acquisition would create an entertainment behemoth, if it passes regulatory muster. Netflix would come to own the Sopranos, Big Bang Theory, and Game of Thrones franchises. More importantly to those in the commercial real estate world, it would assume Warner's studio movie-making chops. And that’s where the potential headaches come up. Warner has been among...

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Member News, Trade & TTIP Related

Greenberg Traurig | Reverse Engineering in the Age of AI: Are Your Trade Secrets Still Safe?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has dramatically expanded the toolkit available for reverse engineering, and in-house counsel might wish to take note. Reverse engineering is the process of discovering otherwise nonpublic information about a product by examining the public-facing product. Reverse engineering has always presented a risk, but rapidly-evolving technology is expanding the scope of what can be reverse-engineered. Now, AI enables reverse engineering in previously-impossible ways. What once required specialized expertise and significant time investment can now be accomplished in...

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