The US Administration has taken a series of actions in recent days to tighten US export controls for Hong Kong and to sanction Chinese government officials in response to the decision of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to impose a new national security law for Hong Kong. Most significantly, these actions put Hong Kong on a par with China with respect to license exception eligibility under the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by suspending all EAR…
On May 29, 2020, the president announced in a White House press conference the Administration’s determination that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), and that the US Government would take “strong and meaningful” steps to “begin the process” of reviewing and revoking the “full range of agreements” that currently provide Hong Kong with preferential treatment. This determination follows Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s certification to Congress on May 27, 2020 that…
We are pleased to announce the launch of Baker McKenzie’s COVID-19 Product Import/Export Review (“COVID-19 PIER”) tool. This tool is a multijurisdictional tracker that provides information on import and export measures imposed around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. New jurisdictions will be added as we continuously update the information in the tool. The past few months have seen an exponential increase in the demand for personal protective equipment (“PPE”), medical supplies, and other…