International Trade

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) is responsible for regulating the import of goods and services into the United States, regulating the export of goods and services out of the United States, and enforcing the agency's own import and export regulations as well as those of other U.S. government agencies. Foreign customs agencies have similar responsibilities. We assist importers and exporters in achieving and maintaining full compliance with all relevant customs laws and regulations in the United States and globally.

We represent our clients before the USCBP and the Court of International Trade as well as other federal courts, and we help our clients deal with the import/export requirements of a host of other federal agencies including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC); U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF); U.S. Department of State; and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In addition to serving importers and exporters, we also represent customs house brokers, freight forwarders, NVOCCs (non-vessel operating common carriers), air carriers, and ocean carriers.

>> View a list of Customs Law and Import services we provide.

A key component to any international business transaction is an arduous assessment of the most efficient, most cost-effective, and most secure manner in which to move goods through the stream of commerce. Through the use of alternative carriers and transportation mechanisms, shippers can develop specific strategies to minimize the cost of moving products to foreign marketplaces and to reduce their liabilities to the extent possible.

In assessing the alternative carriers and transportation mechanisms, which are available, shippers must deal with international transportation law. This law is an amalgam of private contractual arrangements, national laws, and international treaties, such as the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) and the Warsaw Convention. We represents shippers, customs brokers, freight forwarders, NVOCC, air carriers, ocean carriers, and warehouse operators in such matters, with services including:

• Air waybill drafting or review
• Arbitration of international disputes
• Bill of lading drafting or review
• COGSA counseling
• Federal Maritime Commisson (FMC) counseling, problem resolution, or registration
• Hazardous material (HAZMAT) planning
• House bill drafting or review
• INCOTERMS counseling
• International Air Transportation Association (IATA) counseling
• Jones Act Issue counseling
• Liability assessment and counseling
• NVOCC compliance assessments and program development
• Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) counseling
• Ocean Transport Intermediary (OTI) counseling
• Powers of attorney
• Shipping Act of 1984 counseling
• Shipper complaint preparation or resolution
• Terms and conditions
• Transportation claim preparation or assessment
• Transportation dispute resolution
• Warsaw Convention counseling

We review our clients’ export procedures and develop comprehensive export compliance programs for them, documented in a compliance manual that will consider:

• All relevant export regulations
  • Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
  • International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
  • Foreign Asset Control Regulations (FACR)
  • USCBP regulations
  • Foreign Trade Statistics Regulations
  • Export controls
  • Export prohibitions
  • Export license requirements

• Export behavior
  • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
  • Anti-Boycott Act
  • False Statements Act

• Export procedures
  • Shipper export declarations
  • Destination control statements
  • Harbor maintenance fees

• Export record retention
  • Records to retain
  • Period of retention

We review clients' export records and develop a fundamental understanding of clients' current export procedures, interpreting this information to then ensure our clients’ export procedures comply with all relevant U.S. export laws and regulations—including Export Administration Regulations (EAR), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Foreign Asset Control Regulations (FACR), USCBP regulations, and Foreign Trade Statistics Regulations.

We also ensure that clients' export transactions are properly documented; compile written reports summarizing and recommending corrective action for any potential compliance problems; and provide suggestions for how clients can save on costs, improve cash flow from export sales, and enhance risk management.

We review clients' import records and develop a fundamental understanding of clients' current import procedures, interpreting this information to ensure that clients' import procedures are in compliance with all relevant U.S. import laws and import regulations—from USCBP regulations to Foreign Asset Control regulations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms regulations; and International Traffic in Arms regulations.

We ensure that clients' import transactions are appropriately classified and valued, compile a written report to summarize any compliance problems that we have detected, and recommend corrective actions as appropriate. We also provide suggestions on how clients can save on costs, obtain more time to pay for import purchases, and enhance risk management.

We keep tickler files on our clients' international distributor agreements, agent agreements, joint venture agreements, export sales contracts, and other contracts and agreements. These include both contracts/agreements that we drafted and those that were drafted by others, including in-house counsel or other law firms.

Through this monitoring system, we advise clients approximately 90 calendar days before a contract/agreement is to expire. This offers our clients ample time to renegotiate, if desired, or let an agreement lapse. Our contract monitoring service is available for companies of any size that have international contracts/agreements with foreign companies, such as distributors, sales agents, or other entities.

We act as an independent trade ombudsman, representing the interests of our clients in trade (import and export) regulatory compliance issues. In the course of acting as a client's trade ombudsman, we:

• Respond on demand to all trade regulatory compliance issues raised by employees
• Investigate trade regulatory compliance matters that we feel merit investigation
• Conduct annual reviews of a company's trade operating procedures and measure the extent to which the company is compliant with applicable trade regulations
• Prepare a written summary of our findings, conclusions, and recommendations for each investigation we undertake and for each annual review we complete

We keep tickler files on the dates when our clients' State Department registration statements are scheduled to expire. With approximately 90 calendar days of notification before their registration statements expire, we give our clients ample time to register anew, if desired, or let the registration lapse.

This service, which applies to companies of all sizes that are required to register at the State Department, frees our clients from having to track their State Department registration statements or concern themselves with potential disruptions in the processing of their State Department license applications.

We prepare for clients master agent or master distributor agreements that can be modified as needed on a country-by-country basis. This service applies to any company, large or small, that has at least one agent or distributor selling the company’s products in a foreign market.

Having a master agreement in place that can be quickly modified as needed results in cost savings, quicker turnaround time for the completion of agent or distributor agreements in different countries, and easier monitoring. Master agent and distributor agreements are customized according to our clients’ products and standard operating procedures, and we ensure that country-by-country modifications do not undermine the integrity of the master agreement.