Member News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

Thompson Hine | SmarTrade Weekly Roundup – January 16-22, 2026

On January 15, 2026, the United States and Taiwan agreed to a trade deal to establish “a strategic economic partnership … to decisively strengthen U.S. domestic semiconductor supply chains and secure America’s technological and industrial leadership.” While the text and full terms of the trade deal were not released, the Department of Commerce released a

On January 6, 2026, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) again extended Russia-related General License (GL) 13 by issuing a revised GL 13P, “Authorizing Certain Administrative Transactions Prohibited by Directive 4 under Executive Order 14024,” which states that U.S. persons are authorized to pay taxes, fees, or import duties

On January 2, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, published an interim final rule announcing it will move to an all-electronic refund system beginning February 6, 2026.  As a result, the agency will no longer issue paper checks for refunds—including tariff refunds—absent a waiver approved

Hundreds of new cases have been filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) since the November 5, 2025 oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) in the appeal challenging the legality of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) as the statutory authority to impose tariffs and seeking to preserve.

On December 31, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation announcing that he was delaying an increase in the duty rates for imports of upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities. Referencing “productive negotiations of agreements with multiple countries to address the threatened impairment of the national security with respect to imports of wood products,” President

On December 23, 2025, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) determined that China’s acts, policies, and practices related to targeting of the semiconductor industry for dominance are actionable under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Accordingly, the USTR will take tariff action on U.S. imports of semiconductors from China, with an initial tariff

On December 18, 2025, the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) issued a notice that the United States was implementing certain tariff-related elements of the Framework for a United States-Switzerland-Liechtenstein Agreement on Fair, Balanced, and Reciprocal Trade. The framework for this agreement was announced in mid-November 2025 and covered various areas of negotiations addressing

On November 14, 2025, the White House released a Fact Sheet providing details on The Korea Strategic Trade and Investment deal first announced in July 2025. See Thompson Hine Update of November 17, 2025, for additional details. On December 3, 2025, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a formal notice implementing

On November 26, 2025, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice announcing the extension of exclusions in the Section 301 Investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. The 178 exclusions were previously scheduled to expire on November 29, 2025, but have

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