USA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Seward & Kissel LLP, Seward & Kissel LLP
As the shipping industry enters 2025, a Dan - ish proverb reportedly attributed to such great thinkers as the physicist Niels Bohr and baseball legend Yogi Berra is quite apt for this year’s sur - vey: “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” As such, whether the trends noted here continue unabated – or are abruptly reversed – remains to be seen; but the authors expect a year of contin - ued energy and activity on all fronts. Geopolitically speaking, though the war in Ukraine grinds on, it is the turmoil in the Mid - dle East and the Red Sea that has caused con - tinued logistical challenges for many container ships, tankers and other commercial vessels; these have continued to divert around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid conflict zones, causing spikes in fuel costs and freight rates. On the legal front, the USA continues to tighten and rigorously enforce economic sanctions and trade restrictions against Russia, Iran and other countries, most notably in connection with the internationally co-ordinated Russian oil price cap policy – though the incoming administra - tion adds much uncertainty to these scenarios. Even so, the sweeping sanctions measures announced in January 2025 in the closing days of the Biden administration – including major new designations of Russian oil producers, maritime insurance providers, and more than 180 vessels involved in the Russian oil trade, among others – require continued close atten - tion to the sanctions space. Continued tensions with China also involve a focus on inbound and outbound investment regulation, which could impact on affected cross-border investments within the shipping industry, and other industries that impact on shipping.
Domestically, in the renewable energy sector, offshore wind investments in the United States remain ongoing, if perhaps delayed, given the long investment lead time and infrastructure development required to support those projects. In that regard, the authors’ survey reports on the continued availability of certain tax incentives for qualifying entities under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Nevertheless, the prospect of new policy initiatives from the incoming administra - tion may have substantial impacts on this sector as well. Sanctions Enforcement and Compliance, and Ongoing International Turbulence Shipping companies should remain focused on sanctions compliance for 2025. The authors continue to see companies seeking advice with respect to international sanctions, particularly concerning all aspects of Russian sanctions and those applying to other countries such as Iran, China and Venezuela. In 2024, the USA continued to aggressively adopt, implement and enforce US sanctions, including by establishing entirely new sanctions programmes, expand - ing and reinvigorating existing sanctions pro - grammes, and resolving novel and significant enforcement actions. The Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanc - tions programme has expanded rapidly since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, and includes a wide range of sanctions, import restrictions and export controls. The programme includes pro - hibitions on the importation of certain Russian energy products into the United States, includ - ing crude oil, petroleum, petroleum fuels, oils, liquefied natural gas and coal. It also includes prohibitions on all new investments in Russia by US persons, and certain professional services to Russia, including accounting, trust and cor -
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