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Reid Whitten

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Reid is the Managing Partner of Sheppard Mullin's London office, practicing in international trade regulations and investigations.

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In a land before time (technologically speaking . . . so, like, the mid-nineties), the most basic software encryption functions were controlled under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The then-current version of Netscape or Lotus Notes (the hot tech of the era) were controlled under the same regulatory regime as missiles and fighter jets. Then, in 1996, an executive order moved encryption to commercial export controls and freed up the software industry to flourish into its current, omnipresent state.Continue Reading The Commercial Industry Gets More Space: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part II of IV)

We may imagine that a space company begins with only a few screws and some sheet metal in a garage.[1] But regardless of its origins, not long after that early phase, that same company is likely to have a global reach. Commercial space companies inherently involve elements such as international supply chains, foreign customers, and design and engineering talent from around the world.Continue Reading Space Rules, or . . . Space Rules!: Reduced Export Controls Ease Cross-Border Collaborations (Part I of IV)

In a bold move to tighten its sanctions enforcement, the EU rolled out Directive 2024/1226, establishing minimum rules for defining criminal offenses and penalties related to the violation of EU sanctions. Effective May 19, the Directive mandates Member States to incorporate its provisions into their national legislation within 12 months.Continue Reading Walking the Tightrope: EU’s Sanctions Enforcement Directive Puts Violators on Notice

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, which conducts a series of mandatory surveys on foreign investments in the U.S., has recently published Form BE-12, its five-year survey on foreign direct investment in the U.S. for fiscal years ending in 2022. The previous five-year survey was conducted back in 2017. This BE-12 survey is mandatory for any 10% or more foreign-owned U.S. entity, regardless of whether the BEA has contacted them or not.Continue Reading Foreign-owned companies operating in the United States must file a 5 year survey with the U.S. Department of Commerce by May 31, 2023 (for paper filings) and June 30, 2023 (for electronic filings).

If your company is like many, your board of directors may be demanding that you put more effort into environmental, social, and governance issues, which have become known by the now-ubiquitous acronym “ESG.” Those demands don’t come from nowhere: consumers are demanding transparency and social responsibility. In addition, if your company does business internationally, regulators are now focused on international social justice issues (such as the use of forced labor) more than ever.
Continue Reading Does Your Trade Policy Support Your Company’s Values?

Key Takeaways:

  • Threatened 25% tariffs on French luxury goods are suspended.
  • USTR is still looking at tariffs in retaliation for taxes on U.S. global tech companies.
  • Biden’s new USTR will face immense pressure to negotiate the digital taxation issue in the first few weeks of her tenure.

In the last few weeks of former President Trump’s term in office, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) suspended its previous plans to impose tariffs on certain French luxury goods, as we discussed here and here.
Continue Reading USTR Suspends Tariffs on Certain French Luxury Goods: A Potential Shift in Trade Talks

Over the past few weeks, we have been speculating on the international trends and tides we expect to see in the next four years under a new U.S. presidential administration. So that you can enjoy our prognostications (before our program gets greenlighted as a Netflix special) we provide here:

  1. A recording of our webinar, entitled “The Four Years in International Business Webinar”
    (for those playing along at home, see if you can spot the part where Scott’s power goes out while we’re discussing tariff reductions!)
  1. A bulleted summary of the key takeaways of our webinar.

Continue Reading The Next Four Years in International Business

On October 15, 2020, CFIUS will officially tie mandatory filings to U.S. export control regimes, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).  While that change may draw a clearer line of what constitutes a mandatory filing, it also pulls your CFIUS review into the complex (and somewhat nerdy) world of export regulations.
Continue Reading Lend Me Your EARs: CFIUS Makes Export Controls a Trigger for Mandatory Filings

Hiring employees does not usually call to mind international trade compliance obligations. However, together U.S. export controls and anti-discrimination laws create a web that is overlooked or misunderstood by many types of employers of all sizes across many industries. Anti-discrimination laws prohibit unlawful citizenship status restrictions when hiring, and U.S. export controls prohibit disclosing controlled information to foreign nationals without authorization. Together, these law limit acceptable job descriptions and hiring practices.
Continue Reading Export Control HR Pitfalls To Avoid When Hiring

Opening Salvos: The Proposed Tariffs

On June 26, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a notice that it is considering new tariffs on exports such as olives, coffee, beer, gin, and trucks coming into the United States from France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.[1] The list of potential targets also includes various types of bread, pastries, cakes, and other baked products. That new list of goods may face duties of up to 100%, potentially doubling the price of certain goods. [2] The announcement caused European stocks to fall, particularly for shares of beverage companies, luxury goods companies, and truck makers.
Continue Reading A Trade War on Two Fronts: U.S. Considers More Tariffs on European Goods