International Trade

We have a unique combination of legal, managerial and accounting skills within our team that has led to impressive results. Whether we are representing an EU-based client in an offensive action, or defending an international client before an EU institution, our focus is on decreasing our clients’ duty exposure, and we have had repeated successes in obtaining zero duty, getting duty refunds, and winning in court.

Our practitioners regularly represent clients before the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of International Trade. Our solid experience results from more than 200 Trade Defense Investigations (Trade Remedies) across the Atlantic. We have represented domestic industries as petitioners, foreign producers/exporters, and importers as respondents, in anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguard investigations, before national, EU, and international authorities.

In addition, we represent clients before other WTO members’ investigating authorities, such as Brazil, Turkey, China, Pakistan, and India, and our understanding of the complex similarities and differences between the various legal systems enhances the quality of our legal counselling. We also represent sovereign governments before the WTO.

We help our clients navigate the complexity of customs regulations. We work in collaboration with in-house customs teams to provide tailor-made advice on compliance, e.g., regarding proper classification, valuation, origin and the marking of goods entering the EU. We advise on origin determinations and represent our clients in related investigations, we counsel on the application of free trade agreements and supply chain planning that may affect their exposure to customs duties and tariffs. We also perform customs compliance audits for our clients.

The rapid, cross-border movement of data, currency, goods, people, and services requires companies of every size to navigate new and complex regulatory and compliance challenges. We provide comprehensive and practical guidance on international trade controls. Our global team of sanctions and export controls lawyers, supported by trade professionals, monitor, analyze, and report on developments in this rapidly changing area.

We advise our clients on the combined effect of EU, U.S., and UK sanctions. We are mindful of governmental concerns, as the nature of adversaries and threats evolve, and national governments develop new strategies to fight them. On export controls, we conduct internal reviews and investigations; defend against inquiries and agency interventions; obtain licenses for specific operations; and coordinate closely with our public procurement as well as our privacy and cybersecurity colleagues to manage the risks created by trade control laws.

Global compliance requires the integration and synthesis of multiple legal obligations, and our team aids in the development of corporate compliance programs to support global business. We work with diverse stakeholders who may be affected by economic sanctions and export controls, in manufacturing, financial and other services, insurance, transport and logistics, to the benefit of both large multinational corporations and small start-ups, oil and gas industry players, developers, distributors, and service providers.

There are many market access issues for goods and services, such as tariff and non-tariff barriers, and dissimulated obstacles to trade devised by protectionist trends in various countries. Despite the creation of the WTO, diverse restrictive measures continue to have a potentially damaging effect on international trade. We make sure that our clients gain the best possible access to their respective markets and are protected against discrimination. We advise, negotiate, and litigate on their behalf and/or on behalf of the relevant government.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is responsible for investigating fraud against the EU budget, and corruption and serious misconduct within the European institutions. OLAF is part of the European Commission, but it has operational independence. Our Brussels team has extensive experience advising parties involved in OLAF investigations, including producers, exporters, importers, transporters and sellers. We also assist our clients pro-actively in order to prevent or remedy any type of misconduct that could be sanctioned by OLAF, e.g., through in-house compliance and dawn raid trainings. We help our clients to navigate the interactions between OLAF, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and domestic (administrative, law-enforcement and judicial) or international authorities (for example, Eurojust, Europol, Interpol). Our goal is to translate OLAF’s legal practice into business terms and actionable measures, including customs and any other type of EU-funded action.