International Trade

Overview

Arent Fox represents and advises US, non-US and government entities in a broad range of cross-border matters, including customs/import compliance, global trade policy, international trade litigation, export controls and sanctions, and international anti-corruption and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In addition to leveraging the skills of the attorneys in our Washington, New York and Los Angeles offices, the international trade group oversees a network of foreign correspondent counsel, upon which it routinely calls to assist clients in local matters in other countries.

»Click here to download the International Trade Services Brochure

Customs/Import Compliance

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) occupies a critical position in the supply chain of every business that imports; uses or relies on imported parts, materials or components; or exports to foreign markets. Arent Fox, with our team of experienced private practitioners and former government officials, has a long history of helping clients to manage and improve their import and export processes, to understand and comply with the laws and regulations administered by CBP, and to respond to seizures, detentions, investigations, audits and penalty proceedings—all with a common goal: to minimize interruption of the supply chain and avoid costly penalties, sanctions and port delays. Our services include:

• Enforcement of trade and customs laws: We serve as trusted customs and import counsel for numerous US and non-US companies that call us for immediate assistance on matters ranging from relief from detentions and seizures to advice on tariff classification, customs valuation and country-of-origin requirements.
• Duty reduction: Arent Fox achieves millions of dollars in savings for importers, from the use of duty reduction and free trade agreement (e.g., NAFTA) strategies to penalty avoidance, elimination or mitigation.
• Audits: We represent companies in customs audits (e.g., focused assessments) by developing strategies based on the specific needs and objectives of the importer being audited.
• Self-assessments, counseling, compliance: Our lawyers help clients perform self-assessments of their import processes and customs transactions by applying risk-based approaches tailored to their unique needs and priorities.

Global Trade Policy

The promises of the global marketplace are increasingly difficult to realize with an ever-growing number of international trade and investment agreements and a dizzying array of potentially trade-distorting laws, regulations and policies adopted around the world. Arent Fox’s global trade policy practice presents a seamless team of international trade and regulatory attorneys and government relations professionals. Our team assists clients in achieving their international trade goals using various tools and techniques, including:

• Legislative and administrative advocacy: Arent Fox’s global trade policy team assists governments, industry coalitions and large and small companies in nearly every sector—manufacturing, services, technology and financial—to achieve their trade objectives by advocating on their behalf with the right people.
• Trade negotiations: We have experience negotiating the agreements that regulate today’s global marketplace, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements (antidumping, safeguards and countervailing measures), NAFTA, Biosafety Protocol and numerous international intellectual property agreements.
• Trade compliance, market access and preference programs: Our team advises foreign governments on acceding to, or implementing obligations under, various international trade agreements. We develop and execute strategies for industry coalitions and companies to secure and expand their markets using international agreements and mechanisms such as WTO antidumping, safeguards and subsidies as well as countervailing measures agreements, GSP and other trade preference programs, international regulation of biotechnology, anti-counterfeiting efforts, and Section 301 proceedings conducted by the Office of the US Trade Representative.
• International dispute resolution: Our team members’ experience includes representing the US government in dispute settlement proceedings as former government attorneys. We also represent non-US governments, industry coalitions and individual companies in international disputes arising under the WTO, NAFTA and other international trade and investment agreements.

International Trade Litigation

Arent Fox was one of the first major law firms in the United States to develop a substantial international trade litigation practice. Today we are among the largest, most active international trade litigation practices, with clients drawn from every point on the compass from a variety of industries, including raw and processed agriculture and aquaculture to building materials, machinery and equipment, energy sourcing, automotive, chemical, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and telecommunications. Some of the services we provide to clients in these industries with regard to international trade regulation and litigation are:

• Bilateral and multilateral agreements: We counsel non-US companies and US importers and exporters on the statutes and regulations affecting international commerce, including bilateral and multilateral agreements as they apply to trade remedies such as including antidumping and countervailing duties and safeguards.
• Administrative proceedings: Arent Fox represents clients in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings (both market and nonmarket economy) and safeguards before the US International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce as well as before non-US administrative agencies with respect to trade remedy proceedings instituted against US and third-country exporters.
• US Court of International Trade and US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: We vigorously litigate matters in the US Court of International Trade and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
• Generalized system of preferences: We counsel clients in the preferential tariff treatment available under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and assist clients when they are reviewed under the GSP.
• Section 301 proceedings: Arent Fox attorneys have represented clients before the Office of the US Trade Representative when it has conducted Section 301 proceedings.

Export Controls and Economic Sanctions

Arent Fox offers a full-service export trade practice and advises clients on US and international trade controls requirements with an emphasis on compliance, counseling and controversy management. We advise on registration, licensing, classification of products, commodity jurisdiction of products, commercial products modified for military applications, and defense services. Our team helps clients develop comprehensive programs to ensure export control compliance. We assist in audits and counsel on issues such as whether and how to make voluntary disclosures. Aided by our white collar defense team of former US prosecutors, we routinely assist clients with government investigations and inquiries, ranging from visits and letters to subpoenas and search warrants. Specific areas of practice include:

• Dual-use export controls: We advise on all aspects of US and non-US export control and multilateral control regimes, including use of No License Required (NLR) and license exceptions, encryption, deemed exports, diversion risks; proliferation concerns, de minimis and foreign direct product rules; and export documentation requirements (SED/AES) under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and Census Regulations.
• Defense trade controls: We advise clients on all aspects of compliance with the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
• Embargoes and sanctions: We advise US and non-US clients on compliance with the full range of US and multilateral economic sanctions and embargoes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against countries such as Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Sudan and other sanctioned countries.
• Other export controls and proliferation sanctions: We also counsel on Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations on the export of nuclear equipment material, and technology; regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE); and other countries’ export regulations.
• US antiboycott compliance: We advise our clients on compliance with US Commerce Office of Antiboycott Compliance (OAC) regulations and the Treasury Departments’ antiboycott laws prohibiting US companies and their non-US affiliates from participating in unsanctioned foreign boycotts.
• US security-related regulation: Arent Fox also assists non-US clients with inbound defense-related requirements such as filing Exon-Florio notifications with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), investing in US companies with security clearances from the Department of Defense under its Foreign Ownership or Control or Interest (FOCI) rules, and complying with The Economic Espionage Act of 1996, an act prohibiting the theft of trade secrets.

International Anti-Corruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

At Arent Fox, our attorneys have extensive knowledge and experience in helping clients do business internationally while abiding by the FCPA, Anti-Money Laundering laws, and an ever-growing number of international anticorruption conventions. Our anti-corruption team includes veteran international counselors on FCPA, Anti-Money Laundering, and related issues, Government Contract specialists with foreign contracting background, several former prosecutors and Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) Enforcement Division Attorneys, including former US Attorney Terree Bowers, Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section at the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Mary Carter Andrues, and former SEC enforcement attorney Peter Unger, with first-hand knowledge of the challenges presented by these actions. We have extensive experience in handling FCPA matters all over the world, including Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Our attorneys also have experience in a broad range of industries, including:

• Defense & Aerospace
• Materials Processing
• Software/Computer Technology
• Agriculture/Food
• Consumer Products
• Biotech/pharmaceuticals
• Oil/Gas
  

Our experience includes:

• Designing comprehensive compliance education programs for clients operating in the oil, telecommunications, materials processing, and electronics industries, located in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Central and South America
• Conducting pre-closing merger and acquisition due diligence to discover and resolve FCPA problems for various companies operating in the Middle East, China, Eastern Europe, and Indonesia
• Assisting clients to vet international consultants for FCPA concerns in countries around the world
• Drafting an independent FCPA monitor’s report as part of a deferred prosecution agreement
• Conducting internal investigations involving actual or potential FCPA violations for companies operating in numerous industries, including defense, agriculture, energy, and pharmaceuticals, and operating in Argentina, China, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, New Guinea, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates
• Representing Fortune 50 companies in civil and criminal enforcement actions brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the SEC
• Representing Fortune 500 companies in Iraq Oil-for-food investigations launched by the DOJ and SEC
  

For a more detailed description of our FCPA experience click on this link.

Securities Enforcement and Litigation (SEC)

Arent Fox’s Securities Enforcement and Litigation practice group has numerous attorneys with decades of experience in this practice area. They include several former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and US Department of Justice attorneys. They regularly represents companies, investment advisors, directors and officers, professional advisors, and individuals in connection with class action securities litigation, shareholder derivative litigation, investigations and prosecutions involving various securities, commodities, investment, and corporate law matters.

Our experience includes investigations and prosecutions by governmental entities (eg, the SEC, DOJ, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, various State Attorneys General, and state securities regulators), Self-Regulatory Organizations (eg, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)), as well as internal investigations at the request of corporate boards, audit and other special board committees, and general counsels. These engagements include such substantive allegations as insider trading, market manipulation, various fraudulent schemes, improper accounting, disclosure violations, municipal pay-to-play schemes, brokerage and investment advisor compliance issues, and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-corruption laws like the UK Bribery Act.

For a more detailed description of our Securities Enforcement experience click on this link.

Rankings

CHAMBERS 2011
INTERNATIONAL TRADE: NATIONWIDE

The firm's continued investment in this area is reflected in the appointment of two new partners in the anticorruption area. The team primarily handles trade litigation, export controls and customs matters. On the trade litigation side, the group is representing several ArcelorMittal subsidiaries in antidumping duty administrative reviews, investigations and sunset reviews. The Washington, DC office is at the epicenter of the practice and the firm also fields strong teams in New York and Los Angeles. Sources say: "We really appreciate the firm's institutional knowledge of our company and the up-to-date understanding of complex US and global trade laws." Matthew Clark is highly regarded for his long-running work and is currently defending the government of Québec against allegations that it is providing standing timber to softwood lumber producers at subsidized prices. He and Matthew Nolan are regarded as "solid, highly skilled and knowledgeable" trade experts. Nolan continues to act for Turkish steel rebar producers and the main Turkish steel trade association in ongoing trade issues related to importing steel into the USA and other countries. John Gurley enters the trade remedies and trade policy table, having impressed with his client service. Sources note that he is "absolutely always on top of and realistic about the deadlines." Kay Georgi is another new name in the rankings. She advises clients such as 3M and other large multinational companies on a range of import and export issues and according to commentators is "on everyone's short list."

Legal 500 2011

“Trade litigation, export control and customs law are at the heart of Arent Fox LLP’s international trade practice, but the firm is also building significant capability in the anti-corruption and international corporate governance areas. Clients praise ‘extraordinary levels of service and responsiveness’ as well as a ‘solutions-based approach’. Since 2001, the firm has acted for the provincial government of Québec defending against allegations that it is providing standing timber to softwood lumber producers at subsidized prices. The softwood lumber case is the largest, most complex trade case ever filed, involving more than $5bn in annual trade. The underlying dispute over the alleged subsidization of standing timber has been raised, on and off, for more than 100 years. The practice is also acting for several ArcelorMittal Steel subsidiaries in antidumping duty administrative reviews, investigations and sunset reviews. Matthew Nolan heads up the trade group and is highly regarded. Clients praise John Gurley for his ‘business acumen’; Kay Georgi is also recommended.”