Price on Trade: The foolishness of free trade with controlled economies

Written by Alan Price & John Allen Riggins

It was only a matter of time before a shutdown happened. And, no, we aren’t talking about the federal government’s lapse in appropriations.

On Oct. 9, Beijing announced a series of restrictions that will effectively shut down exports of rare earth elements, magnets, and certain downstream products vital to advanced manufacturing. Under the new rules, firms in China must seek government approval to export rare earth materials mined or processed in China, as well as the equipment used to process them. The restrictions also require approval to ship certain products containing trace amounts of an expanded list of rare earth elements. Exports to companies with military affiliations will be presumptively denied.

Alan Price

Price has more than 30 years of experience representing clients in high-profile, complex international trade regulatory matters, including trade litigation involving public and government relations issues. In addition to being chair of the firm’s International Trade Practice, he heads the firm’s antidumping and countervailing duty practice. He also counsels clients on bilateral and multilateral agreements, trade legislation, customs regulation, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance issues, escape clause investigations, and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution.

John Allen Riggins

Riggins advises in matters related to trade remedies, national security, supply chains, trade policy, and digital trade. He represents client interests in a variety of international trade remedy proceedings before the Department of Commerce (DOC) and International Trade Commission (ITC) and related litigation before the US Court of International Trade (CIT) and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). Riggins has represented domestic producers in a wide array of industries, including steel, aluminum, wood, wind energy, transportation, and photovoltaics products.