In an April 9 memorandum, President Donald Trump instructed all "executive departments and agencies" to "identify certain categories of unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations within 60 days" and establish plans to repeal them. The memo told the agencies to review their regulations for compliance with 10 recent Supreme Court decisions, the first of which is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the decision eliminating the concept of deferring to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes.
Laura Black, former director of policy and international relations for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., has joined White & Case as partner in the global trade and foreign direct investment reviews practice, the firm announced. Black joins from Akin Gump, where she worked as senior counsel since 2022. Black worked at CFIUS from 2018 to 2022.
Moldova formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on April 8, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 96. The WTO needs 15 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
China opened a dispute at the World Trade Organization on April 8 on the U.S. reciprocal tariffs, claiming that the duties violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, the Agreement on Customs Valuation and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. China's challenge covers the 34% additional tariff on Chinese imports that is set to take effect April 9, along with the 10% duty on imports from all trading partners, which took effect on April 5.
Canada filed a dispute consultation request with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization on April 7, alleging that the U.S. government's 25% additional tariff on automobiles and automobile parts violate WTO obligations. The request said the duties "appear to be inconsistent with" U.S. obligations under Articles II and VIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released a threat assessment about possible sanctions violations by legal services providers, noting that since February 2022, the legal services sector has accounted for the second-highest number of suspected breach report submissions to OFSI. Legal services accounts for 16% of all submissions, behind first-place financial services with 65% of submissions.
Antigua and Barbuda formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on April 3, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 95. The WTO needs 16 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
Russian national Oleg Patsulya was sentenced April 2 to nearly six years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to ship controlled aviation technology to Russia in violation of U.S. export laws and to launder money in connection with the scheme, DOJ announced.
The U.K. on April 2 added 12 people and one entity to its global anti-corruption sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Russian non-profit Evrazia for its ties to sanctioned Israeli-born Russian oligarch Ilan Shor. The listed individuals include board members of Evrazia and members of the judiciary in Guatemala and Georgia.
World Trade Organization members on April 1 appointed Pakistan's Ali Sarfraz Hussain the new head of the Committee on Agriculture in a special session, the WTO announced. Hussain will lead agriculture talks with the goal of achieving a "meaningful outcome" at the 14th Ministerial Conference, which is set for March 26-29, 2026, the WTO said. Hussain takes over for Turkey's Alparslan Alcarsoy. The new chair will also head the Committee on Agriculture's special session subcommittee on cotton and will meet with "delegations and group coordinators over the coming days." After these meetings, Hussain said he will invite members to an informal special session meeting and dedicated sessions on "public food stockholding and the 'special safeguard mechanism' in the third week of April."