Articles Posted in Uncategorized

Last week, the Trump Administration raised tariffs to 25% on $200 billion worth of goods that previously were subject to 10% tariffs.  The increased rate in tariffs were brought on as a result of accusations that the Chinese delegation to the trade negotiations back-tracked on previous agreements, and the increase was meant to ratchet up…

The last few weeks brought a flurry of developments regarding international trade.  Two petitions recently were filed with the US International Trade Commission (“ITC”). On April 30th, Hirsh Industries filed an antidumping (“AD”) and countervailing duty (“CVD”) petition on imports of certain vertical metal file cabinets from China.  The petition covers metal filing cabinets containing…

When USTR announced tariffs on imports from China on July 6, 2018, it also announced the procedures and deadlines for seeking exclusions from such duties. Late last month, USTR announced that it would grant exclusions from tariffs for a second set of Chinese imports (“List 2”).  The second round of exclusions cover about 87 separate…

A lawsuit commenced by the American Institute for International Steel (“AIIS”) regarding the constitutionality of Section 232 before the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) has been decided.  A three-judge panel decided that Section 232 was not unconstitutional. The plaintiffs argued that Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, did not properly…

In February 2019, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division required divestitures from Thales in order for the company to proceed with its proposed $5.64 billion acquisition of Gemalto. Why This Merger Mattered Prior to the transaction, Thales and Gemalto were the world’s leading providers of General Purpose Hardware Security Modules (GP HSMs). These devices are…

The rising prices of existing and new brand prescription drugs could have serious consequences for tax payers and the 44 million seniors who rely on Medicare.  In order to rein in those costs, it’s vital for the Administration to encourage the use of generic drugs and biosimilars. While Congress has been grabbing the headlines by…

Changes in the economy, technology, international business, and data collection have all converged to make the FTC rethink its enforcement priorities going forward. In the spirit of the 1995 Pitofsky Hearings, the FTC on September 13, 2018 kicked off the first day of hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century at Georgetown…

Big is Not Necessarily Bad When Powerful Buyers Control the Purse Strings Some pundits have argued that the antitrust agencies should adopt a “big is bad” approach to merger reviews to prevent further consolidation of large companies. But Joseph Simons, the nominee to be Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), understands that “big is…

On December 6, 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren sharply criticized the state of antitrust enforcement in a speech at the Open Markets Institute. She said that antitrust enforcers adopted the Chicago School principles, which narrowed the scope of the antitrust laws and allowed mega-mergers to proceed resulting in many concentrated industries.  She believes that antitrust enforcers…

On November 22, 2017, the FTC announced that retail fuel station and convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (“ACT”) agreed to divest three fuel stations in Alabama to settle FTC charges that ACT’s proposed acquisition of Jet-Pep, Inc. (“Jet-Pep”) would violate federal antitrust law. Under the terms of the deal, ACT will acquire ownership or…