Colleagues Patricia Doersch, Jennifer Satterfield, and Jennifer Tharp have prepared a legal insight outlining the regulatory challenges litigators face as the technology of the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry quickly evolves. The legislative uncertainty in the US leaves the safety standards of these self-driving/self-parking vehicles up to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and National Highway … Continue Reading
This is a cross post from Law360. Please contact Sarah Rathke or Alexis Chandler with any questions. In the US, the UCC Statute of Frauds’ (2-201) requirement that a contract must contain a written quantity term to be a binding contract, has been the law of the land in all 49 states that have adopted the … Continue Reading
The outbreak of COVID-19 could be the most significant event to impact the US economy in generations with the potential for ripple effects in the automotive market and supply chain for years to come. Accordingly, OEMs and suppliers from all tiers may need to rethink the supply chain model, from sourcing of raw materials to … Continue Reading
The UK is seeing a significant push on the imposition of Clean Air Zones in its major cities in an effort to tackle emissions levels, NO2 in particular. Such schemes are designed to incentivize changes in vehicle usage and ownership through the application of daily charges for polluting and ‘non-compliant’ vehicles entering the zone. Many … Continue Reading
We are pleased to have partnered with Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation, to conduct research into the concerns of manufacturers for a no-deal Brexit, and to produce this report calling on the UK government to secure a trade agreement that supports the manufacturing industry. The report highlights the significance of the manufacturing industry for the … Continue Reading
A bipartisan bill, introduced in the Senate on May 2, seeks to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign minerals and develop a national electric vehicle supply chain policy. The American Minerals Security Act (S. 1317), which embraces part of a 2017 executive order by President Trump, would “facilitate the availability, development, and environmentally responsible … Continue Reading
The US Department of Commerce investigation into the threat of automotive imports to US national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, started in May 2018. Currently, the Trump Administration is considering a 25% tariff on vehicles and auto parts from all foreign countries of origin. Additional Section 301 tariffs against … Continue Reading
The North American Free Trade Agreement has brought massive changes to supply chains throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada over the past 23 years. Now, for the first time, the United States has an anti-NAFTA administration, which is moving forward on its campaign promise to re-negotiate the agreement. The details are far from final, but some of the … Continue Reading
As we have discussed in a previous post, recalls are part of life for many manufacturers, and the trend is for more frequent, and more geographically broad, product recalls.… Continue Reading
It’s springtime, which apparently means… that the California Department of Justice has begun what looks like enforcement measures with respect to California’s 2010 Transparency in Supply Chains Act. If you are a manufacturer or a retailer who has received a letter inquiring about your compliance with this (relatively) new legislation, don’t be surprised. It is apparently … Continue Reading
The latest Automotive Council Report (March 2015 Report) identifies some very interesting and potentially lucrative UK supply chain and supplier opportunities. In particular, the Report showcases a big jump in demand from British vehicle manufacturers for high value British-made/sourced components – a continuing drive for increased localisation of the supply chain. It also builds upon … Continue Reading
Although the West Coast Ports labor dispute has more or less resolved, the consequences continue to be felt across supply chains both in the U.S. and internationally. Especially hard hit have been the retail, automotive, and agricultural industries, with several companies (such as the Gap, Lululemon, and Williams-Sonoma) negatively revising their financial outlooks. Honda took … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) , the federal agency responsible for overseeing automotive safety, released figures showing that 2014 involved a record number of automotive safety recalls – higher than 2011, 2012, and 2013 combined. In all, the industry recalled almost 64 million vehicles in 803 separate recall campaigns, 680 … Continue Reading
Previously on this blog, we wrote about the UCC’s silly rule that order quantity must be in writing for a supply chain contract to be enforceable. Among other things, we discussed the difficulties this rule poses for supply chain partners who want to do business on a blanket purchase order basis, popular in many industries. … Continue Reading
