FedEx sues US government over export restrictions News
jp26jp / Pixabay
FedEx sues US government over export restrictions

FedEx Corporation sued the US Department of Commerce Monday for what they say is the Department’s efforts to use their regulations to “essentially deputize FedEx to police the contents of the millions of packages it ships daily even though doing so is a virtually impossible task, logistically, economically, and in many cases, legally.”

In an interview, FedEx CEO Fred Smith said that “they cannot be the policeman for the Department of Commerce.” He also said that the regulations place an enormous burden on FedEx and other common carriers to know exactly what is in each package and from whom it originates. FedEx ships more than 15 million packages daily, and he said it would be impossible to police every package.

The suit stems from controversy regarding FedEx’s handling of a package from Huawei, which is on the Department of Commerce’s Entity list after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that prevents US companies from doing business with the Chinese tech giant, among others.

THIS DAY @ LAW

District of Columbia named seat of US government

On July 16, 1790, the District of Columbia was established as the permanent seat of the United States government by the Residence Act. Originally the district contained land on both sides of the Potomac, grants from Maryland and Virginia, but in the mid-19th century, when it was obvious that the major government buildings were being built on the Maryland side, Virginia asked for its land back and received it. Learn more about the District of Columbia.

Saddam Hussein becomes President of Iraq

On July 16, 1979, Hasan al-Bakr resigned as President of Iraq. He was replaced by Saddam Hussein, who held power until he was deposed by American forces in 2003. In 2006, Hussein was tried and convicted of crimes against humanity. He was executed by hanging later that year. Learn more about relations between the United States and Saddam Hussein from George Washington University.