On 8 May 2018, President Trump announced his decision to withdraw the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and to reimpose on Iran a multitude of sanctions that were lifted in January 2016 under the JCPOA.
This means a significant change to non-U.S. companies' ability to trade Iran, and has particular relevance to the shipping industry. We summarise below the potential implications of President Trump's announcement on chartering business, but readers should be aware that the impact on individual spot fixtures and longer-term charterparties, as well as other forms of shipping-related contracts, including ship sale and purchase, contracts of affreightment and brokerage agreements, should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Ultimately, when looking at your Iran-related trading it will be important to consider your business' exposure to potential enforcement by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as well as your contractual position vis-à-vis any counterparties.
You can read more about this topic in our client alert here.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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