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On 23 June 2025, the UK government published its new Modern Industrial Strategy document (the “IS Document”), outlining the government’s current strategies for UK economic growth. The policy paper focuses on eight priority sectors: professional and business services; advanced manufacturing; clean energy; creative industries; defence; digital technologies; financial services; and life sciences (the “IS Priority Sectors”), which together represent 32% of the UK’s economy. The IS Document makes specific (albeit brief) reference to the UK government’s plans in relation to the UK’s investment screening regime, which is governed by the UK National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA), and confirms that long-awaited updates to the NSIA are still on the government’s to-do list.

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In a landmark decision, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) has ruled against President Trump’s imposition of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In its decision (involving two consolidated cases, V.O.S. Selections, Inc. et al. v. United States of America et al. and The State of Oregon et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al.), the court emphasized that the Constitution assigns the authority to set import duties to Congress, and therefore the President’s power to impose tariffs must be located in specific statutes delegating that authority to the Executive. The CIT held that IEEPA cannot be read to grant the President such power.

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Two days before its scheduled effective date, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced the rescission of the Biden administration’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Diffusion Rule on May 13. The Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, issued as an interim final rule on January 15, 2025, established new requirements under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for the export, reexport and in-country transfer of advanced computing integrated circuits (ICs). These requirements created new licensing and quota regimes for advanced AI chips, as well as a tiered framework for assessing export restrictions to diverse jurisdictions (discussed in our previous post here).

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The Trump administration has intensified its America First Trade Policy initiatives by announcing three new investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 by the Department of Commerce. As foreshadowed in the administration’s Day 1 Executive Order, last week Commerce announced the initiation of investigations into whether imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and critical minerals threatened to impair national security. And on April 23, 2025, Commerce announced the initiation of a fourth Section 232 investigation into imports of trucks. These follow previously announced and ongoing investigations into copper and lumber, as well as existing section 232 duties on steel, aluminum and light passenger vehicles.

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On April 2, 2025, President Trump signed a sweeping Executive Order (EO) imposing tariffs designed to address what the Trump administration has characterized as persistent trade imbalances allegedly caused by unfair trade practices. Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Administration declared trade deficits a national emergency and is adopting tariffs based on its view of what would be required to drive the U.S. trade deficit in goods with each country to zero.

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On February 24, 2025, the EU adopted its 16th package of sanctions against Russia, Belarus and non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine, symbolically marking the third anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and constituting the largest set of updates that we have seen in the past two years. On the same day, the UK also issued new designations under its Russia sanctions regime impacting 107 entities, individuals and ships. See a summary of the updates below.

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Between March 4, 2025 and March 6, 2025, U.S. trade policy in North America changed course multiple times as the Trump Administration initially implemented previously-paused tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, and two days later, suspended tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports that meet the rules of origin for preferential tariff treatment of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The Trump Administration also increased across-the-board tariffs on imports from China to 20%, which remain in place.  These measures, introduced through a novel use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), come after an initial 30-day delay in imposing tariffs on the North American trading partners on February 3, 2025.   Continue reading →

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Following days of speculation, President Donald Trump announced on February 13, 2025, a new tariff policy outlined in a Presidential Memorandum entitled the “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” (Plan).  The Memorandum directs key trade and economic U.S. government agencies to take action against trading partners that impose tariffs, taxes, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), or other restrictions on U.S. goods and services. At this time, no new tariffs have been implemented.

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On February 10, 2025, President Trump issued two Presidential Proclamations reimposing and expanding tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Adjustment Act of 1962. These measures effectively supersede prior alternative arrangements, including tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) negotiated with key U.S. trading partners such as the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), Japan and others, while also revoking country-specific exemptions previously granted to Canada and Mexico. The Proclamations represent a substantial escalation of U.S. trade policy in the metals sector and reaffirm the national security rationale that underpinned the original Section 232 tariffs imposed in 2018.

 

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Following President Trump’s February 1, 2025, announcement of a sweeping set of tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, citing immigration concerns and the flow of fentanyl, trade tensions have lurched unpredictably between escalation and temporary resolution. While negotiations between heads of state on February 3, 2025, led to a 30-day pause on both U.S. tariffs for Canada and Mexico and parallel retaliatory measures, the 10% tariff on imports from China took effect at 12:01 a.m. on February 4, 2025. 

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