By Magniflex USA

Italian mattress giant, Magniflex, has dedicated part of their focus to quality, washable, Made in Italy face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Magniflex is committed to supporting the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce during this tough time by offering face masks to its members at wholesale price and has pledged to donate $1 per each sold mask to the Italian Chamber as a contribution to help support their initiatives that promote Made in Italy during this time of need.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR IACCSE MEMBERS

Face Mask with Italian Flag and adjustable ear laces:

– $6.99 per mask, sold in 5-pack

– Minimum order 5 masks

– Shipping included with USPS

– Faster UPS shipping – $4.99 surcharge for orders of 5, free for orders of 10+ masks

– $1 per mask will be donated to IACCSE

Face Mask in Blue with adjustable ear laces:

– $5.99 per mask, sold in 5-pack

– Minimum order 5 masks

– Shipping included with USPS

– Faster UPS shipping – $4.99 surcharge for orders of 5, free for orders of 10+ masks

– $1 per mask will be donated to IACCSE

The face masks are made in 95% cotton and 5% spandex and can be washed up to 10 times when using common detergents. Additional colors and customizations (e.g. personalized logo) are available for orders of minimum 250 pieces.

Throughout the pandemic Magniflex was proud to donate face masks to the Forest Firefighting Surveillance Service (VAB – Vigilanza Antincendio Boschivo), which works hard every day to deliver groceries to the elderly and less fortunate. To show continued support and gratitude Magniflex also made a donation of face masks to the Meyer Hospital in Florence during the COVID-19 crisis.

These masks are great for the service, restaurant, and hospitality industries.

For more information on pricing and ordering please contact silvia.galasso@magniflex.us.

By Digitance 

COVID-19 emergency has forced governments, in many countries around the world, to impose drastic measures of social distancing. One of the main consequences of this decision was the immediate increase in the use of ICT technologies, in order to fill the inconveniences imposed by this distancing.

For example, educational institutions have replaced face-to-face classrooms with remote teaching. Companies immediately began to use the “Smart Working” methods in a massive way. The ordinary citizens, forced into their homes, have used video communication as an alternative to direct socialization.

Digitance believes that human factor always remains the fundamental element in every activity, in every process. Its centrality is indisputable.

Human behaviours are a crucial element in every analysis, in every situation.

The massive use of ICT tools, in the past few months, has brought public attention to the increasingly frequent and pressing actions of hackers who, taking advantage of the situation, have become progressively aggressive.

Apart from any technological disquisition, a “first line of defence” against hacking actions can undoubtedly be represented by some “virtuous” personal behaviours towards tools and technology applications.

First, in the use of “social media”, we should never describe our habits, our lifestyles and, above all, we would never talk about our possible absences from home and from office. This is information that hackers would know how to exploit.

We should learn how to build “strong” passwords, wisely using the full range of available characters, including special ones. We should never use full names connected to us and not even places or dates.

We should create our own personal password rotation policy. We would try not to keep the same password for more than a month on the same application and create our own archive of passwords and rotation criteria, which we will keep outside of our PCs, smartphones, tablets, etc.

As far as possible, we should avoid using free email services, web conferencing, VoIP, etc. … the so-called “no-cost economy” does not cope with security. Free platforms are the preferred target of hackers, who take advantage of the intrinsic weakness of the platforms themselves.

As soon as possible, we should equip ourselves with a system for encrypting our data, our hard disks, in order to decrease their vulnerability.

These are just a few small tips, which can however start to define a virtuous behavioural model, that could be a robust base to start building – with the help of a specialized company such as Digitance Group – a real Security Management System.

By EXP Legal

By BGSM & Partners 

by Trend Transformations 

• Hospitals – outdoor testing, reception and assessment points, mobile command centers
• Fire stations – outdoor testing, reception and assessment points, mobile command centers
• Community – converted public and private facilities set up as testing centers

By Moris & Associates 

Force majeure excuses contractual nonperformance, when unforeseen events beyond the control of both parties either make contract performance impracticable or frustrate the purpose of the performance.

Does COVID-19 qualify as a Force Majeure Event?

WHO declared COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, a pandemic. Therefore, if the force majeure clause stipulates specific events such as epidemics, quarantine, biological contamination or other public health emergency, Coronavirus is very likely to fall under this definition.

In the aftermath of the 2003 SARS outbreak, courts in the PRC held that the outbreak was in the category of an epidemic for the purposes of force majeure, although that interpretation was not applied consistently elsewhere.

If the force majeure clause is silent on pandemics, Coronavirus will not automatically constitute a force majeure. However, given that government announced restrictions on travel, movement, and large gatherings, another possible argument is “acts of government.”

For example, some restaurants and bars, which are shutdown as a result of a government order might be able to invoke force majeure clause to withhold rent.

Do all commercial leases contain a force majeure clause?

No. Not all leases contain a force majeure clause.

The best course of action is to have a lawyer review your lease to determine whether it contains a force majeure provision.

What if the contract doesn’t have force majeure clause?

If you cannot find force majeure clause in your contract, you still can rely on the common law defenses:

• Impossibility: performance is no longer objectively possible because of a supervening event.
• Impracticability.
• Frustration of purpose.

If you need an assessment of your lease, Moris & Associates is offering a free review of your commercial lease for Members of the Italy America Chamber of Commerce.

by Canero Immigration Law Firm 

The P visa was created to allow internationally recognized athletes or performing artists to come to the United States temporarily, in order to perform services for an employer or team. I love the P visa because it has many uses. Lets look carefully at each one.

P Visas for artists, athletes or entertainers have 3 categories:

P-1A Awarded to individual athletes.

The athlete must be coming to perform at a specific competition as an athlete, not a coach, individually. The athlete must prove that he/she is internationally recognized based on her/his personal achievements and reputation. The athlete must also prove they are coming to perform services that require an internationally recognized athlete. Generally, this is assumed to be a sport that is internationally recognized, such as a sport played in the Olympics. However, there are new sports which have international recognition and these can be used if evidence is provided to prove the sport is recognized internationally. The competition must have a distinguished reputation and require the participation of internationally recognized athletes.

The P-1 can also be granted to someone who coming to play for a team in the US, such as the Miami Heat, that is internationally recognized in the sport. Here the emphasis is on the international recognition of the team versus the individual athlete.

Professional Athletes must be employed by a team that is a member of an association of six or more professional teams whose total combined revenues are over $10 million. They can also come to play with a minor team that is affiliated to the association.

Amateur Athletes and coaches can be part of a team or franchise that is located in the US and is a member of a foreign league or association. These players may not earn a scholarship or participate in the sport at a US college or university.

The P-1 in these two categories can come to the US to participate in a wide range of activities. It can be one competition, or a season, a tournament, a tour, or an exhibit. The athlete can make promotional appearances for the petitioning employer, receive payment, and prize money. The athlete can work for several employers and engage in part time study.

A P-1 can also be granted to a team of an internationally recognized foreign team such as Manchester United. The members of the team may be granted a P-1 but they cannot perform activities separate from their athletic team activities in the US. They have to be coming to participate in a competition that has a distinguished reputation and requires the participation of internationally recognized teams.

International recognition is defined by USCIS as “having a high level of achievement in a field evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition above that ordinarily encountered, to the extent that such achievement is renowned, leading or well known in more than one country.” So essentially, we are looking for athletes or team that compete internationally and have achieved a ranking in the top 20%.
The visa is granted for 5 years. The visa has dual intent for the athlete.

This visa can also be obtained for the staff or essential workers of the team or the athlete. However, these employees do not have dual intent.

P-1B For Performing Artists

The P-1 is also used for Performing Artists, such as singers, dancers or musicians who are members of a foreign based entertainment group that has been recognized as an internationally outstanding entertainment group for a sustained and substantial duration of time. This is not a visa for an individual entertainer.

The group must have received or been nominated for international awards or prizes. What is interesting is that the category accepts “nominations” which makes it a lower standard than the O-1. The group has to be recognized internationally for its excellence, merely being recognized nationally in their country is not sufficient. This has to be documented by published material in newspapers, journals or magazines.
The P-1 has to play an integral part of the performance of a group, and they must have a sustained and substantial relationship with the group for over a year.

The P-1 cannot perform separate from the group as individual entertainers. An entertainment group is made up of two or more persons who function as a unit. If a solo artist regularly performs with the same musicians or singers the act may be considered an entertainment group.

The P-1 can receive payment, and prize money and engage in part time study. The P-1 can work for several employers, but each employer must file a separate P-1 petition for the individual.

The visa is granted for up to a maximum of one year. The visa has dual intent for the entertainer.
This visa can also be obtained for the staff or essential workers of the group, but, these employees do not have dual intent.

Read the full article here.

by BGSM & Partners

Mr. Pierluigi Brogi will be a speaker on a seminar in Pistoia Italy on “Business opportunities in the US” (February 25th, 2020).

Please find the program below.

by Italian CPA Miami Firm 

Recently the Trump Administration has implemented tariffs on goods being imported from the European Union. A tariff is a tax placed on internationally traded goods, and must be paid by the exporting country.

The Administration placed a 10% tariff on aircraft imported from the EU and 25% duty on agricultural and other products. 7.5 million dollars of tariffs were imposed on a variety of goods. To Italy, the US is the most important (non-European) trade partner with two-way trade totaling 77.875 billion dollars in 2018. The main goods exported from Italy are automobiles. Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Fiat, Lamborghini, and Maserati are a few of the well-known car companies manufacturing cars in Italy.

The implementation of these tariffs is a result of the World Trade Organization, allowing the US to recuperate damages from the EU subsidies to the aircraft maker Airbus. Airbus is an European aircraft company based in Britain, Germany, and France. The Italian government finds it unfair that goods being exported from Italy are being subject to tax when they were not involved in the production of the Airbus. The World Trade Organization has recently found that Airbus and its rival Boeing have received billions of dollars in subsidies.

During the visit of the Italian President Sergio Mattarella to the White House last October, Mattarella asked President Donald Trump to ease up on the tariffs being placed on Italian exports. Trump responded by saying that maybe the US government was a bit harsh on the Italian government, and that was not their intent. The president said he valued the partnership the US has with Italy, and he will look into the tariffs being placed on Italian products. Will these tariffs cause the United States and Italy to lose their close relationship?