International Trade

Our International Trade lawyers assist clients with matters including:

Trade remedy proceedings (such as antidumping and countervailing duty investigations)

• U.S., UK and EU export controls and sanctions;
• U.S., UK and EU regulation of foreign direct investment;
• Regulations impacting supply chains;
• Customs compliance and enforcement;
• The interpretation of international trade agreements;
• Litigation, arbitration and settlement of trade disputes;
• Trade issues that arise in transactions; and
• Global anticorruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance.

Experienced in resolving a multitude of trade-related problems, we offer practical, strategic and effective advice to clients from a wide variety of industries, including:

• Computer hardware and software;
• Aerospace;
• Defense;
• Semiconductors;
• Financial institutions;
• Space and satellite services;
• Energy;
• Agriculture;
• Minerals, metals, materials;
• Chemicals;
• Steel;
• Travel;
• Automotive;
• Electronics; and more.

We regularly team with lawyers in the firm’s other practice areas to assure comprehensive service and the deep understanding of our clients’ industries and technologies needed to tailor solutions to help clients accomplish both their immediate and long-term goals.

Trade Remedies & Trade Policy
Pillsbury’s highly experienced team has a deep trade remedy bench, complete with numerous senior practitioners who have decades of experience advising on these issues, representing importers and exporters in some of the most monumental international trade disputes of the past few decades. Our team has successfully handled every type of trade remedy proceeding for our clients, including experience representing clients in trade remedy proceedings before the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), as well as other trade remedy and policy proceedings before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. These complex topics include antidumping issues, anti-circumvention, hyperinflation and non-market economies, the countervailability of government subsidies in various contexts, injury and causation, and a host of other market access and trade policy issues. We also handle appeals to the Court of International Trade, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Notably, our Team includes non-lawyer trade analysts who continuously run antidumping simulations on client databases during the preparation of responses. This approach allows our lawyers to develop methodologies and presentations that provide the lowest possible antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) rates. Moreover, given overarching international rules governing trade remedies and the highly-developed U.S. trade remedy regime, our team frequently provides strategic guidance concerning trade remedy proceedings in other jurisdictions.

CFIUS & Foreign Direct Investment
Pillsbury advises on foreign direct investments (FDI) in the U.S., handles CFIUS notifications under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended, and represents clients in complex, high-profile investigations. We are experienced in matters involving foreign government control, highly sensitive technologies, intricate regulatory regimes, transportation, communication and energy infrastructure, and cleared companies. We also assist with security clearances and advise on National Industrial Security Program’s impact on business operations and related “foreign ownership, control, or influence” (FOCI) rules. Pillsbury also advises clients on notification requirements under the UK National Security and Investment Act and EU FDI screening regimes.

Customs Compliance
We are experienced in numerous aspects of U.S. customs laws and their administration, including tariff classifications, tariff relief proceedings under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, country of origin marking, import valuation and rules of origin. Pillsbury lawyers represent clients in requesting Customs and Border Protection rulings. We also assist in designing internal customs compliance programs and in responding to Customs audits, and defend clients in seizure, enforcement and penalty proceedings.

Economic Sanctions
Pillsbury lawyers have experience advising clients on compliance with economic sanctions imposed by the U.S., EU, UK and other allied governments under a broad range of legal authorities such as the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), including sanctions regulations administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) with respect to countries such as Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria, and Myanmar/Burma, as well as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs).

Export Controls
Pillsbury assists clients in interpreting the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and UK and EU dual-use and military requirements to determine if proposed transactions require prior government approval. We help companies classify products on the Commerce Control List and the U.S. Munitions List, assist in preparing license applications and commodity jurisdiction requests, advise on export control law violation disclosures, conduct investigations, negotiate settlements, and defend clients in administrative enforcement proceedings and criminal prosecutions.

International Trade Agreements
As international trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bilateral/multilateral agreements such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) have greatly expanded the scope of domestic government regulation subject to international obligations, Pillsbury has been advising companies and has represented clients in numerous completed and pending investor-state arbitrations, WTO dispute settlement proceedings and appeals, and other cases under WTO, USMCA and other trade agreements.

Global Anti-Corruption
Our cross-practice team provides the full range of FCPA and UKBA related services, from general compliance and specific transactions advice to investigations and representation before government agencies, offering exceptional guidance on the complex legal and regulatory issues involved in doing business abroad. We monitor U.S. and UK court decisions, DOJ and SEC settlement terms, and enforcement officials’ and regulators’ policy statements, and help clients establish effective FCPA and UKBA compliance programs and respond when potential violations arise.

Global Anti-Money Laundering
For both financial institutions and traditional companies, anti-money laundering laws have broad impact on modern business and intersect in important ways with sanctions, export control, anti-corruption and other trade issues. Pillsbury advises U.S. and non-U.S. financial institutions, as well as companies and investors on regulatory and criminal anti-money laundering (AML) rules, as well as due diligence and know-your-customer (KYC). Our work ranges from traditional banking to fintech to the cutting edge of digital assets.