As industry sees an increase in parties invoking force majeure clauses (see 2002140027) due to the COVID-19 pandemic response measures, courts will more closely review force majeure disputes to determine whether companies are simply trying to escape a difficult economic situation, commercial litigation lawyers said. Before invoking the clause, parties should make sure compliance with their contracts is impossible due to the pandemic. “The courts … are going to be very astute to look for people trying to use COVID-19 as a force majeure excuse where actually the contract was just not economic for them anyway,” Sean Upson, a lawyer with U.K.-based Stewarts law firm, said during an April 9 webinar.

Recently announced restrictions on exports of personal protective equipment (PPE) only apply to commercial shipments, and exports to Canada and Mexico are exempt from the policy, said CBP in a memo dated April 9. The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America included the memo in an April 9 email on COVID-19 developments.

The U.S. is restricting exports of certain personal protective equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a notice scheduled for Federal Register publication on April 10. The restrictions, which took effect April 7 and will last 120 days after publication, apply to certain respirators, masks and gloves, FEMA said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 30 - April 3 in case you missed them.

President Donald Trump issued a “Team Telecom” executive order on April 4 that formalizes the executive branch’s process for reviewing foreign takeovers of U.S. communications assets, but some observers questioned the extent to which it will alter the status quo. The departments of Homeland Security, Defense and Justice do those evaluations. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said the EO means the commission can advance a 2016 proposal to speed up the review process.

The U.S. should expand the scope of humanitarian license exceptions for exports to Iran and add staffing within the Treasury Department to speed up the licensing process, members of the European Leadership Network and The Iran Project said April 6. The statement, signed by 25 former U.S. and European government officials, also said the U.S. needs to do more to assure companies, banks and organizations they will not be targeted for exporting humanitarian items to Iran. The letter follows similar calls by U.S. lawmakers, who said sanctions are hindering life-saving exports to Iran (see 2004010019).

Technology and semiconductor trade groups are objecting to increased export restrictions under consideration by the Trump administration, saying the controls could lead to industry uncertainty with significant impacts on semiconductor companies. In an April 6 letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the groups urged the administration to request industry input before finalizing the rule, which reportedly includes three measures to tighten restrictions on China’s ability to obtain advanced U.S. technology (see 2004020012).

The Federal Aviation Administration does not independently vet civil aircraft registrations, which could lead to a host of sanctions related risks, according to a March report from the Government Accountability Office. In at least one case, the FAA allowed a sanctioned Venezuelan drug trafficker to obtain a dealer certificate, which gave his front company access to blocked planes for more than a year, the GAO said. FAA officials said they do not have the required authorities to address sanctions issues, but the GAO pointed to a lack of coordination between FAA and the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and a flawed FAA registration system.

The European Union will officially waive customs duties and value-added taxes on medical equipment imports from non-EU countries, the European Commission said April 3. The measure, signaled in a March 30 customs guidance (see 2003310030), was approved by the commission to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic after requests from member states. Import duties and VATs will be lifted for six months for masks, protective equipment, testing kits, ventilators and other medical equipment, the commission said, adding that the measure will take effect retroactively from Jan. 30. The EU may consider an extension after six months.

The Canadian government has sent its letter to the U.S. and Mexico certifying it is ready for the USMCA date of entry into force, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced April 3, but a top Mexican official said his country did not certify it was ready by March 31, which means a June 1 date of entry into force is out of reach.