USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Seward & Kissel LLP, Seward & Kissel LLP
contract. The burden of demonstrating a force majeure event also falls on the non-performing party seeking to have its performance excused. Likewise, the common-law frustration-of-pur - pose doctrine permits a party to stop performing under a contract when a wholly unforeseeable event renders the contract valueless to that par - ty. Parties have also raised the extra-contractual doctrines of impossibility or impracticability to seek an excuse from performance. However, these concepts are construed quite narrowly under contract law. 8.2 Enforcement of the IMO 2020 Rule Relating to Limitation on the Sulphur Content of Fuel Oil As previously noted, the United States is a sig - natory to Annex VI of MARPOL, which includes the global cap on the sulphur content of fuel oil and, as of 1 January 2020, the amended “IMO 2020” limits – reducing the sulphur content of fuel used on most commercial ships to 0.5% mass by mass (m/m), down from the previous limit of 3.5% m/m. As of 1 March 2020, the carriage of fuel oil for use on board ships was also prohibited if the sulphur content exceeded 0.5%, unless fitted with an equivalent alternative (eg, scrubbers) to meet that limit. MARPOL Emission Control Areas (ECAs) are in force in and around the United States, for which sulphur content standards are even stricter. As of 1 January 2015, ships operating within an ECA are not permitted to use fuel with a sulphur content in excess of 0.1% m/m. Currently, the IMO has designated five ECAs, including speci - fied portions of the Baltic Sea area, North Sea area, North American area, United States Carib - bean area and (most recently) the Mediterranean Sea area, which became an ECA on 1 May 2024, with limits to take effect starting 1 May 2025. The
North American ECA includes specified areas of the United States and Canadian coastline, and the United States Caribbean ECA includes Puer - to Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The US Coast Guard monitors compliance with the sulphur limits and will continue to verify com - pliance with the 0.1% standard in ECA ports, and with the 0.5% standard in non-ECA ports. Deficiencies may be addressed administratively with the Coast Guard, or in sufficiently severe circumstances by way of referral to the EPA for further action. The EPA has published settle - ments involving civil penalties for violations of the fuel content limitations on its website. 8.3 Trade Sanctions The USA has incorporated and implemented wide-ranging economic and trade sanctions programmes, including through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA). The IEEPA permits the President to declare national emer - gencies in response to national security, foreign policy or economic threats. Similarly, the TWEA authorises the President to restrict trade between the USA and foreign nations during wartime. The USA has also implemented international trade sanctions adopted by the United Nations through the United Nations Participation Act of 1945. The USA’s economic and trade sanctions pro - grammes generally prohibit US persons from transacting, directly or indirectly, with sanctioned actors, governments and those located in certain jurisdictions (eg, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea region and so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics of Ukraine). The USA’s economic and trade sanctions pro - grammes also prohibit importation and exporta - tion to and from certain jurisdictions, as well as dealing in property or interests in property that
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