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Thompson Hine LLP, a full-service business law firm with approximately 400 lawyers in 11 offices, was ranked number 1 in the category “Most innovative North American law firms: New working models” by The Financial Times and was 1 of 7 firms shortlisted for The American Lawyer’s inaugural Legal Services Innovation Award. The firm has been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Legal Technology Trailblazer and featured by Bloomberg for its innovative service delivery models, which drive accuracy and predictability. The firm’s commitment to innovation is embodied in Thompson Hine SmartPaTHTM – a smarter way to work – predictable, efficient and aligned with client goals. For more information, please visit ThompsonHine.com and ThompsonHine.com/SmartPaTH.

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Washington, D.C.

With the partial federal government shutdown beginning at 12:01 a.m. on December 22, 2018, most of the U.S. government&rsquo;s trade-oriented agencies have either shut down or had their operations severely restricted. What follows is a listing of the current operational status of many of these agencies:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
In a conference call with interested parties, CBP indicated that the ports will be &ldquo;staffed as normal&rdquo; to ensure that the &ldquo;flow of trade {is} as close to normal as possible.&rdquo; Due to the lapse in federal funding, however, the CBP website will not be actively managed, transactions submitted through the website might not be processed, and CBP will not respond to inquiries until after the shutdown.
U.S. Department of Commerce &ndash; Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
More than 86 percent of the Department of Commerce&rsquo;s staff is affected by the shutdown and has been furloughed. As a result, BIS&rsquo;s operations will be severely curtailed, including requests for licenses, advisory opinions, and other export licensing activities. Export enforcement will continue, however, including the ongoing conduct of criminal investigations, prosecutions, and coordination with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies in furtherance of national security.
U.S. Department of Commerce &ndash; International Trade Administration (ITA)
Most services and activities provided by the ITA have ceased due to the government shutdown.
U.S. Department of State &ndash; Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC)
Operations at DDTC are significantly curtailed, including requests for licenses, advisory opinions, and retransfers, except for those that provide direct support to the military, humanitarian aid, or other similar emergencies. All D-Trade electronic submissions will be rejected by the system and returned to the applicant. Requests that are currently in process at the DDTC as of December 21, 2018, will remain in that status. Further review actions, however, will be delayed until after restoration of funding.
Industry applicants believing they have a case (either &ldquo;In-Review&rdquo; or new submission required) involving direct support to the military, humanitarian aid, or other similar emergencies, should email the DDTC Response Team (<a href="mailto:DDTCResponseTeam@state.gov">DDTCResponseTeam@state.gov</a>). The email subject line MUST read &ldquo;Request for Emergency License,&rdquo; and the message must include the license number (if already pending with DDTC), the applicant&rsquo;s name and registration code, the end-use/end-user, justification for needing an emergency license, and a point of contact. The Directorate will contact the requestor with guidance on how to proceed if the request will be honored.
U.S. Department of the Treasury &ndash; Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC)
While Treasury is expected to have critical staff reporting to work to maintain core operations, it is expected that OFAC&rsquo;s operations will be significantly curtailed. With the government shutdown, many pages and documents on Treasury&rsquo;s website will not be updated. The Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List), however, will continue to be updated as necessary.
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)
The ITC has ceased regular operations. As a result, the ITC web site will be operating in a limited capacity. For security reasons, EDIS has been brought offline. The HTS Search Tool and Dataweb will continue to be available, but no staff assistance will be provided for these applications.

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SmarTrade

U.S. Government Shutdown Affects Operations of Most Trade-Related Agencies