On November 26, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that 32 additional product descriptions will be excluded from the Section 301 trade remedies imposed on Chinese-origin products. The newly announced exclusions all relate to items on China 301 List 3 (the $200 billion trade action) which, unless excluded, are subject to an additional tariff of 25% ad valorem. The list of newly-excluded items (which supplements the exclusions previously granted by the USTR) is provided below. The exclusions will...

Calling on an audience of human rights leaders, scientists, government officials, and students to “stand up for what believe in, with a passion,” environmental rights defender and IIE-SRF alumnus Alfred Brownell of Liberia delivered the keynote address at the October 2019 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science, Technology and Human Rights Conference, held in Washington, D.C. In his remarks, Brownell underscored the need for more collaboration between science and technology experts and human rights organizations...

Even with the ongoing political and economic uncertainty, year-on-year sales growth remained around average levels in October. Macroeconomic trends continued in line with previous months, with stagnant house prices, falling real wage growth, and lower consumer credit expansion.  The final two months of 2019 are a crucial trading period for the high street, encompassing both the Christmas period and (a slightly later) Black Friday. Retailers will hope that consumer confidence can hold on until the new year despite the mixed...

By David A. Dodge, Richard Dion, Serge Dupont, John M. Weekes, Michael Horgan and Valerie Hughes of Bennett Jones This is a special edition of the twice-yearly Bennett Jones Economic Outlook. In it, as always, we review the global economic and trade context and the short-term outlook for global and Canadian growth. In addition, we examine five key policy challenges that the Government of Canada and the minister of finance will confront and deal with in a new mandate. Government and...

Reavis Page Jump LLP is proud to congratulate its attorneys named 2019 New York Metro Super Lawyers or Rising Stars and featured in the October publication of Super Lawyers Magazine and the Super Lawyers supplement to The New York Times.  Given to only 5 percent of attorneys in the New York Metro area, the Super Lawyers rating recognizes those esteemed by their peers for exceptional work in their practice areas. The Rising Stars distinction, awarded to only 2.5 percent of attorneys in the New York Metro area, is given to the...

Uncertainty is the word of the moment. Uncertainty about global trade, about Brexit, about recessionary tendencies, about the situation in the Middle East, about… Yet, markets seem to have learned to cope with this environment and market participants seem to have understood that global central banks keep their expansionary monetary policies in place and are attentive to any signs of shortcoming. While we think that the FED is done for 2019, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) new asset purchase program has just...

The board of the European Investment Bank (EIB) today agreed a new energy lending policy and confirmed the EIB’s increased ambition in climate action and environmental sustainability. “Climate is the top issue on the political agenda of our time,” said EIB President Werner Hoyer. “Scientists estimate that we are currently heading for 3-4°C of temperature increase by the end of the century. If that happens, large portions of our planet will become uninhabitable, with disastrous consequences for people around the...

By Jacqueline Chiu, Alexa Driansky, and Ryan Poole, of AlixPartners As retail takes stock of another up-and-down year and gets ready for 2020, several key themes are emerging. In addition to the expected global economic slowdown and ongoing trade uncertainty that is likely to affect all businesses at some level in the coming year, retail is facing additional trying headwinds. Key among them is the fact that many retailers have taken on increased debt and, consequently, are needing to service...