The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade has currently issued at least 4,811 force majeure certificates due to the COVID-19 pandemic (link). These certificates qualify the coronavirus outbreak as a force majeure event and certify that a party’s partial performance or failure to perform under an agreement be excused if there is a force majeure clause in the agreement.  According to a Xinhua state media report, the total contract value for the agreements associated with the certificates is an alarming 373.7 billion Chinese yuan (equivalent to US$53.79 billion). Unfortunately, for many U.S. businesses impacted by the…

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