Mike and Brent tackle the “de minimis” rule under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which would exempt certain below-threshold-value U.S. items from EAR requirements. Three recent enforcement actions, all in 2026 and collectively imposing just under $300 million in penalties, underscore the perils of potentially misapplying the rule. Mike and Brent introduce the concept of “weathervane” regulatory language that can sway with the geopolitical and enforcement winds (2:59); the potential relevance of companies’ approaches to transfer pricing and country-of-origin (4:40); the relevance of old-fashioned arithmetic to identifying common numerator and denominator pitfalls (9:10); the recent enforcement action that included an unusually lengthy exposition by the U.S. Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) of its interpretation of the de minimis rule (15:38); and the parallels to BIS’s rediscovery of the “high probability” standard (18:56). Mike and Brent conclude with the latest installment of Brent Carlson’s “Managing Up” segment (24:41).
BIS “Guidelines for De Minimis Rules”
Contact Brent: brent@redflagsrising.com
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Contact Mike: michael.huneke@morganlewis.com
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The enforcement actions can all be found at www.bis.gov