On Tuesday, April 7, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) filed a temporary final rule (“Rule”) in the Public Inspection issue of the Federal Register to establish export restrictions on certain types of personal protective equipment products (“PPE Products”) used in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rule implemented the order via Presidential Memorandum (“Order”) dated April 3, 2020, in which the President directed the US Department of Homeland Security, of which FEMA…

On April 3, 2020, President Trump issued an order via Presidential Memorandum (“Order”) invoking an obscure authority under Section 101 of the Defense Production Act, 50 U.S.C. § 4501 et seq. (“DPA”), to potentially restrict exports from the United States of personal protective equipment (“PPE”) needed in the response to the COVID-19 crisis. This is in the wake of numerous countries around the world implementing export bans on PPE and other medical supplies (see our previous blog…