The Trump administration plans to "aggressively" enforce the False Claims Act, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston said during the Federal Bar Association's qui tam conference last week, attorneys at McGuire Woods said. While most FCA enforcement action is taken in the field of healthcare, Granston said that DOJ will center future FCA enforcement on other Trump policy priorities, including customs fraud and "illegal foreign trade practices."
President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 instructed the attorney general to cease from opening any new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for 180 days so that the Office of the Attorney General can issue new guidelines for FCPA enforcement that "prioritize American interests" and U.S. "economic competitiveness." In the order, Trump said the FCPA has been "abused" and "impedes the United States' foreign policy objectives."
President Donald Trump is poised to roll back enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act until Attorney General Pam Bondi can issue new enforcement guidelines, Bloomberg reported Feb. 10. Trump is expected to sign an executive order halting FCPA enforcement until all current and past actions are reviewed and the guidelines are issued. A fact sheet being drafted by the administration says "U.S. companies are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field," according to the report.
The U.S. could use the False Claims Act to more aggressively combat tariff evasion, attorneys at Ropes & Gray said in a Feb. 3 alert. Companies should "carefully scrutinize their import policies and procedures to ensure they are adhering to all applicable laws," the firm said, adding that importers should ensure that they have "appropriate avenues" for internal and external parties to bring confidential reports to the company's attention.
President Donald Trump nominated William Kimmitt, current partner at Kirkland & Ellis, to serve as head of the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration. Kimmitt served in the first Trump administration as counsel to the U.S. trade representative and was involved in the implementation of the USMCA. At Kirkland & Ellis, Kimmitt is a litigation partner, focusing on international trade and Section 337 unfair import investigation proceedings.
DOJ under President Donald Trump likely will pursue greater criminal enforcement of the most recent tariffs imposed on China to serve as a "general deterrent" and "punish instances of serious misconduct," attorneys at BakerHostetler said in a recent post. In response, foreign parties should be "mindful of their potential criminal exposure," partners Artie McConnell, Jennifer Solari and Michael Snarr said.
The Treasury Department recently published more guidance on its outbound investment prohibition and notification rules (see 2412160044), including a new FAQ on how certain portions of the rules apply to in-house lawyers.
The International Trade Commission on Dec. 23 published a summary of administrative protective order (APO) breach investigations related to proceedings under title VII and section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 conducted during fiscal year 2024. The commission said that, over time, it has added to its report of breaches in proceedings other than title VII and violations of the ITC's rules, including the rule on bracketing business proprietary information.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged TikTok Dec. 13 to comply with an eight-month-old law that will ban the popular social media application in the U.S. unless it is divested by Chinese parent company ByteDance by Jan. 19.
U.S. persons may be able to host sanctioned people as speakers at overseas conferences without a specific authorization, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said, marking an apparent reversal of the agency’s previous sanctions policy for speaking engagements.