B. Stephanie Siegmann, partner and chair of the International Trade & National Security Practice, contributed to Dow Jones Risk Journal. She outlines important proactive steps businesses should take to assess their risks and minimize liability in the current environment. Businesses are facing a new era of surging national security threats and uncertainties stemming from escalating geopolitical tensions, state-sponsored cyberattacks, trade wars, and new policies under the Trump Administration.
From the outset of his presidency, President Trump clearly signaled that national security would be a priority of his administration, implementing numerous initiatives under an expanded definition of this term – including the designation of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) as well as the adoption of an “America First Trade Policy” and the imposition of tariffs on goods imported from every country into the United States.
Consistent with President Trump’s agenda, the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi has made national security a top priority. The Justice Department has focused on four strategic areas: (1) countering the Chinese Communist Party; (2) deterring international trade fraud and tariff evasion; (3) combatting cyberfraud; and (4) dismantling drug cartels and TCOs.
As a result, organizations should conduct risk assessments of their business operations, thoroughly investigate internal reports/complaints, consider making timely self-disclosures of potential violations of federal laws to DOJ, and take all necessary remedial measures before a whistleblower has the opportunity to report any suspected violations.
Learn more about how to prepare your business for these impacts. Subscription required.
