IACC U.S. Legislative Update and Policy Round Up

U.S. Customs Seeking Input – Notice of Proposed Rulemaking – Entry of Low Value Shipments

On January 14^th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in connection with rules pertaining to the Entry of Low-Value Shipments. We expect that this effort will be of significant interest to IACC members (and rights-holders more generally) given the explosive growth in the volume of small consignment importations in recent years.

We are currently in the process of reviewing the NPRM with the expectation that we will submit formal comments to CBP as part of its rulemaking process, and we would welcome your input as we prepare that submission.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, please contact Travis Johnson (tjohnson@iacc.org) at your earliest convenience.

IACC Files Annual Special 301 Recommendations

On January 27th, the IACC filed comments with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), in support of the agency's annual Special 301 Report - an annual review of the global IP landscape, highlighting rights-holders' priority concerns related to IP protection and enforcement, and identifying the countries where IP owners face the greatest challenges in protecting their rights.   

Our submission details the variety and severity of challenges faced by rights-holders in 33 jurisdictions around the world, including recommendations for the placement of 7 countries on the Special 301 Priority Watch List; an additional 20 countries were recommended for inclusion at the Watch List level. We offered input without any formal recommendation on 6 others.   

Our recommendations were largely consistent with our submission in 2024, though – based on feedback from IACC members during this year’s consultations – we advocated for addition of Mexico and the Philippines to the Priority Watch List.

We’d like to thank all of the members who provided input for our comments this year; if you’d like more information about how your company can contribute to this work throughout the year, please reach out to me directly (tjohnson@iacc.org) at your earliest convenience. 

USTR's final report is expected to be issued no later than April 30, 2025.

USTR Publishes Notorious Markets List

On January 8^th, USTR published its annual Notorious Markets List, highlighting the physical and online marketplaces that reportedly engage in, facilitate, turn a blind eye to, or benefit from substantial piracy or counterfeiting. In doing so, the U.S. government seeks to draw attention to some of the most significant challenges to rights-holders’ with respect to the protection and enforcement of their IP, to encourage those markets to examine their existing policies and practices, and to address any deficiencies in those practices.

The IACC filed comments in support of the Notorious Markets review last October; of the physical markets that we nominated, nearly 80% were named to the Notorious Markets List by USTR; in the online context, USTR concurred with approximately 60% of our recommendations.

Whirlwind Start to Trump Administration 2.0 and the 119th Congress

On the off chance that you haven’t picked up a newspaper or seen the news over the past month, you’ve missed out on quite a bit of activity since Congress returned to Washington, and the Trump Administration hit the ground running after the Inauguration took place on the 20^th.

Though there has been little in the way of legislating thus far – the Senate, in particular, remains largely focused on matters related to the confirmation of appointees – there has been considerable activity with respect to the issuance of Executive Orders. There are new developments daily, so rather than offering a detailed analysis at this stage, much of which would likely be outdated before you’ve even had an opportunity to read this, here are a few of the highlights, and links to some tools that may be useful in keeping track of the rapidly evolving landscape in Washington.

Cabinet Appointments

President Trump’s Cabinet has begun to take shape with seven of 22 nominees confirmed thus far including: Scott Bessent (Treasury), Kristi Noem (Homeland Security), and Marco Rubio (State).

Others we’ll be keeping a close eye on include those for: Attorney General (Pam Bondi), Secretary of Commerce (Howard Lutnick), Secretary of Health & Human Services (Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.), and U.S. Trade Representative (Jamieson Greer).

In addition, non-Cabinet appointees subject to Senate confirmation including FBI Director (Kashyap Patel), Commissioner of Customs (Rodney Scott), Director of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (no nominee announced), and Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (no nominee announced) will be closely watched.

You can watch along with us, here.

As noted above, the first days of the new Administration saw numerous Executive Orders and Memoranda issued by the President. We’re continuing to review these, but do wish to draw your attention to a Presidential Memorandum published on January 20^th, outlining the White House’s “America First Trade Policy,” which includes directives to several Executive Branch agencies concerning IP rights and trade enforcement. The full text of the memorandum is available here. 

New Members of Congress

The 119^th Congress has a lot of new faces – 12 new Senators (8 Republican, 4 Democratic), and 63 new Representatives (33 Democratic and 30 Republican), and still more on the way, with 2 seats vacant.

We’re currently in the process of scheduling meetings with new members, particularly those who’ve landed seats on committees with jurisdiction relevant to intellectual property enforcement.

If you have government affairs representatives in Washington who may be interested in joining any of those meetings, please have them reach out to Travis Johnson (tjohnson@iacc.org) to coordinate.