Drinker Biddle lawyers understand the ever-changing world of international trade.  We have the credentials, experience and track record that enable you to take advantage of the opportunities, and avoid the pitfalls, present in the global marketplace.  Drawing upon a broad array of trade and audit specialists and logistics professionals, we provide effective, cost-conscious advice on a variety of regulatory, dispute resolution, policy and corporate compliance matters that helps you succeed.

Global Trade Compliance and Supply Chain Management:  U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies closely monitor international trade and commerce to ensure that all goods, either imported into or exported from the United States, are in compliance with U.S. rules and regulations.  Proper planning and legal advice can minimize the potentially adverse customs and international trade risks.  We help you understand the complex laws and regulations regarding international trade and help design business processes and procedures that will comply with these laws and regulations and that can be easily integrated into your business practices.  In this regard, we help you in numerous compliance areas, including Focused Assessments, Special Duty Preference programs, enforcement matters and prior disclosures, as well as others.

We recognize that in today's competitive global economy, it is imperative for businesses to make informed sourcing and supply decisions.  We advise clients on how to maximize duty-saving opportunities under existing preferential trade agreements and special duty programs.  In addition, we counsel clients on how to cope with non-tariff trade barriers in foreign countries.

The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a joint trade and U.S. Customs and Border Protection initiative to strengthen importers' supply chains and increase border security against terrorist activities, asks importers to comply with various requirements to gain certain program benefits.  We help you successfully navigate the C-TPAT application process, analyze and apply minimum security requirements, and pass validation.  Our professionals assisted a major automotive manufacturer through the application process and quickly obtained admission on behalf of the client, allowing the company to realize immediate benefits of the program.

Import/Export Management and Counseling:  Laws and regulations regarding the importation of merchandise have increasingly become more complex, requiring importers to continuously keep abreast of new developments.  We not only assist you with navigating the countless customs and international trade laws governing the importation of goods, but also work with you to discover business opportunities created by various trade agreements, duty preference programs and customs procedures to ensure legal compliance and minimize exposure to duties, investigations and penalties.

We also help you with the expansion of export markets, the management of your regulatory burdens and risks, and the satisfaction of government compliance obligations.  We assess risks hidden in the complex rules applicable to the exportation of physical commodities and the subtle controls on sharing technology and software with foreign nationals.  We also work with you to identify business and trade opportunities by taking advantage of various regulatory exceptions to export licensing requirements.

We realize that businesses require knowledgeable personnel to comply with the Customs Modernization Act's requirements.  Importers must exercise reasonable care when they enter, classify and value imported merchandise.  In addition, recent changes in the export regulations impose greater responsibilities on parties engaging in export transactions.  We work with you to properly educate your employees and have presented training seminars to assist companies with educating the in-house professionals responsible for compliance with these laws.

Trade Remedies and Litigation:  Importers and exporters continuously face the risk of potentially devastating consequences in the event of surges in imports, antidumping/countervailing duties, merchandise exclusion orders and other trade measures.  To help you minimize the risks of these adverse consequences, we advocate for your interests in the trade remedies arena before government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.  We have successfully represented clients, including a major U.S. office supply company, in antidumping matters regarding various nations around the world.

Litigation can be an important component to a business's overall trade strategy - whether used as a preemptive measure to prevent immediate injury or as a last resort when all other options of dispute resolution have failed.  Drinker Biddle provides a wide range of trade litigation services - from traditional customs litigation to lawsuits against other private parties.  Our trade litigation lawyers have successfully obtained duty and tax refunds of hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of clients.