Law firm Quinn Emanuel will open an office in Beijing, its second office in mainland China. The new office will bolster the firm's China practice on matters including international arbitration and government agency investigations, among them DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Quinn Emanuel also helps large companies with "critical internal investigations and government enforcement actions involving their China operations," the firm said. Xiao Liu, Quinn Emanuel's China practice chair, will head the Beijing office.
Global law firm Akerman created a new Economic Sanctions and Export Controls Practice team. The group will work to assess "the scope and impact of sanctions and export controls" and design compliance programs, while also "litigating prohibited persons designations, freeing frozen assets, responding to audits, and obtaining licenses," it said Feb. 24.
EFL Global acquired Trans American Customhouse Brokers, the buyer said in a Feb. 27 news release. The fully owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka’s Expolanka Holdings paid $42.5 million for a 100% equity interest in Trans American and its related companies, Sri Lanka’s Sunday Timesreported.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark, in her annual "State of American Business" speech Jan. 12, said that if the Biden administration fails to strike a balance on how to respond to China's economic posture, it "could undermine our security, our economy, our competitiveness, and our future."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's John Murphy said that manufacturers are some of the biggest supporters of free trade deals because half their goods are exported.
Nardello & Co., a global investigations firm, opened an office in Los Angeles that will be led by Managing Director Amie Chang, the firm announced. Chang returns to the U.S. from the firm's Hong Kong office, where she worked on various due diligence investigations, providing litigation support and aiding sensitive political risk engagements in China, the firm said. Prior to joining the firm, Chang worked as a DOD intelligence analyst and as a State Department diplomat. The firm's focus includes white collar criminal and civil litigation, due diligence, anti-corruption and fraud investigations, and asset tracing.
The demand for batteries will dramatically increase over the next several years, eventually outpacing supply, panelists said during a July 26 Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in each of the countries that have signed onto the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum issued a joint statement strongly supporting the IPEF but also suggesting that tariff reductions be considered. "That is the best way to achieve the most meaningful benefits for American businesses, workers, and consumers," they said June 23.
Almost 40 agricultural trade groups, along with two port and perishable logistics trade groups, asked the U.S. trade representative to reduce, lift or suspend tariffs so that China would lift its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crops. “Tariff relief could not come at a more important time,” the trade groups said in a letter. “Rural America and small businesses are facing significant challenges due to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistical and supply chain disruptions, record levels of inflation, and the increasing impacts of Russia’s war on Ukraine. "
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company believes it’s well-insulated from any disruption in the supply of raw materials due to the war in Ukraine, CEO C.C. Wei said on a Q1 earnings call April 14. TSMC, the world’s largest wafer foundry, “operates a well-established enterprise risk management system to identify and access all relevant risk and proactively implement risk mitigation strategies,” he said. “In terms of material supply, TSMC’s strategy is to continuously develop multi-source supply solutions to build a well-diversified global supplier base and to improve the local supply chain.” For specialty chemicals and gases, including neon -- available in large volumes from Ukraine before the Russian invasion -- “we source from multiple suppliers in different regions, and we have prepared a certain level of inventory stock on hand,” Wei said. “We are also working closely with our suppliers to further strengthen the resilience and the sustainability of our supply chain. Thus, we do not expect any impact on our operations from materials supply.”