[co-author: Nicole Hager] This alert was originally published on January 6, 2021 and updated on May 13, 2021.
UPDATE: On May 6, 2021, following a request from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it was instituting a second investigation into foreign censorship (
Foreign Censorship Part 2: Trade and Economic Effects on U.S. Businesses, Inv. No. 332-586) and accelerating the comment and hearing schedule for the first investigation (
Foreign Censorship Part 1: Policies and Practices Affecting U.S. Businesses, Inv. No. 332-585). On January 26, 2021, the ITC announced that it would initiate a new factfinding investigation, “Foreign Censorship: Trade and Economic Effects on U.S. Businesses,” on the effects of foreign censorship policies and practices on business in the United States.
[co-author: Nicole Hager] This alert was originally published on January 6, 2021 and updated on January 27, 2021.
UPDATE: On January 26, 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it is initiating a new factfinding investigation, “Foreign Censorship: Trade and Economic Effects on U.S. Businesses,” on the effects of foreign censorship policies and practices on business in the United States.
The ITC invites the public to submit comments, which are due
August 24, 2021, on: foreign censorship policies and practices that U.S. businesses believe impede trade or investment in foreign markets; details of how such policies have evolved in the last five years, including instances of extraterritorial censorship; and, qualitative analysis of the trade and economic effects of such policies on U.S. businesses. The ITC will hold a public hearing in connection with investigation at 9:30 a.m. on
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On January 4, 2021, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) filed a request with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) for a Section 332 investigation on censorship as a non-tariff barrier to trade. The request follows a June 30, 2020 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the issue. While Section 332 investigations are general factfinding proceedings and do not directly result in any formal trade actions, this request from the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee could represent a significant development in U.S. trade policy. A formal shift towards treating censorship as a trade barrier could have wide-ranging implications for industries like social media, film, news, and traditional publishing.