On September 26, 2019, the Federal Maritime Commission issued a Notice of a series of new notices of proposed rulemakings that have significant potential effect on OTIs and vessel operators. At this point, the actual NPRMs have not been issued, so it is not clear what issues are to be specifically addressed. Nevertheless, the press […]
On September 12, 2019, the Surface Transportation Board (“Board”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that constitutes another attempt by the Board to increase the ability and willingness of captive rail shippers to seek review of rail rates through formal complaint proceedings before the Board. Under this latest proposal, the Board would establish a Final […]
On September 12, 2019, the Surface Transportation Board (“Board”) announced it will hold a public hearing on December 12, 2019 in an area of railroad policy that is extremely important to the STB’s regulation of railroad rates and the procedures for challenging them: railroad “revenue adequacy.” How “revenue adequacy” is determined by the Board and […]
On September 12, 2019, the Surface Transportation Board (“Board’) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would streamline the process by which a rail shipper demonstrates the Board has jurisdiction to review whether the shipper’s rates are reasonable because the railroad has “market dominance” over the transportation, i.e., no effective competition exists to discipline the […]
On September 13, 2019, the Federal Maritime Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its Docket No. 19-05, Interpretive Rule on Demurrage and Detention Under the Shipping Act. (A copy of the text of the NPRM can be found here). This NPRM arises out of the Commission’s Fact-Finding No. 28 Investigation which was undertaken and […]
On August 29, 2019, the Surface Transportation Board issued a decision that further heightens the need for rail shippers to press the Board for revisions to the agency’s regulations and policies that test the reasonableness of rates paid by rail shippers captive to a single railroad for service. All three of the current Board members […]
On August 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) extended a revised version of the temporary general license authorizing business with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and its Affiliates (collectively, “Huawei”) for 90 days until November 18, 2019. BIS also added a number of new Huawei affiliates to the Entity […]
On August 16, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit Court”) affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to deny class certification In re Rail Freight Surcharge Antitrust Litig., No. 18-7010 (D.C. Cir. August 16, 2019). The case involved a putative […]
Globalization, increased consolidation in many key industries, the rising dominance of technology giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, and the rapid advance of new technologies have transformed our economy in the 21st century. During the past several months, members of Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and a number of […]
On August 5, 2019, President Trump ratcheted up the sanctions on Venezuela.1 On that occasion, he issued an Executive Order (“E.O.”) blocking all property and property interests of the Government of Venezuela and authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to designate companies as SDNs if they provide material support or provide goods or services to […]