Customs and International Trade

Katten’s Customs Practice is structured to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the issues that importers and exporters face in today’s regulatory and global business environment. The attorneys at Katten help clients develop strategies that anticipate and respond to agency initiatives and actions that affect their interests.

Our attorneys and trade professionals have substantial experience in trade issues, with wide-ranging backgrounds in government, private practice and industry. Many of our trade professionals either started their careers with Customs or worked extensively in this field prior to joining Katten.

Our trade attorneys have vast experience practicing before the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. International Trade Commission, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, World Trade Organization (WTO) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Secretariat. We therefore possess the unique ability to offer clients a full range of alternatives in our trade remedy services.

Katten’s in-depth understanding of trade policy and remedies has enabled us to provide effective representation to leading U.S. and multinational companies on a range of trade policy issues, including participating in trade coalitions, direct lobbying of U.S. government officials, and advising companies on international trade negotiations and agreements under the WTO, NAFTA and others. Our focus on trade policy and remedies encompasses topics such as surges in imports, antidumping/countervailing duties, merchandise exclusion orders and other trade measures that present potentially devastating consequences for importers and exporters.

Trade Compliance

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies are stepping up their efforts to ensure that all goods imported into or exported from the United States are in compliance with all U.S. laws and regulations. In this era of increased trade enforcement, the burdens of understanding and complying with the rules established by more than a dozen federal agencies have grown exponentially.

We focus on helping companies design business processes and procedures that meet their policy and operational objectives and that can be easily integrated into their business practices. With proper planning, potentially adverse customs and international trade risks can be minimized. As an added benefit, this type of approach makes trade compliance a natural by-product of regular business practices.

Administrative Proceedings and Trade Litigation

The business of international trade often involves appearing before or petitioning a federal agency. Katten attorneys aggressively pursue our clients’ interests in administrative proceedings, whether such representation involves protesting an agency decision or obtaining a favorable ruling.

In the event that an adequate remedy cannot be obtained at the administrative level, Katten’s trade attorneys have litigated adverse agency decisions in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and other judicial forums, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Import Counseling

The realm of customs and international trade law is a quick-moving and ever-changing playing field, and the statutes and regulations governing the importation of merchandise have increased in complexity. More than ever, importers benefit from the assistance of partners who keep abreast of current developments in trade laws, regulations and guidelines.

Export Management

On the other side of international transactions, Katten helps our clients expand their export markets, manage their regulatory burdens and risks, and meet government compliance obligations. We assist clients by assessing unseen risks in the complex rules on exporting physical commodities and the subtle controls on sharing technology and software with foreign nationals. We also work with our clients to identify opportunities under regulatory exceptions to export licensing requirements. Katten attorneys are experienced in civil and criminal export penalty cases and have negotiated favorable settlements that allowed our clients to remedy compliance gaps and retain their export privileges.

Government Relations

Because government decisions involving international trade are often subject to political, U.S. domestic or foreign policy considerations, these actions can affect importers and exporters in ways where formal remedial measures are unavailable. Often, a company’s only avenue of relief in these circumstances may come through lobbying the executive branch, interagency committees or the U.S. Congress. Our attorneys have been extremely successful in these efforts. Katten also assists clients with legislative comments, tariff amendments and congressional support for Foreign Trade Zone or subzone applications.

Many clients ask us to advise them regarding potential regulatory issues raised by prospective corporate transactions and business arrangements. Our customs and international trade attorneys are highly skilled at drafting documents and providing advice on potential regulatory issues that arise in the course of international business transactions.