International Trade & Regulatory
Alston & Bird’s International Trade and Regulatory Group has achieved a reputation of excellence through its diversified range of expertise, its members’ decades of experience in dealing with policy and regulatory nuances at the federal level, its distinguished client list and its record of achieving effective results for its clients, often in precedent-setting matters.
We offer technical trade law expertise across the full range of issues that confront companies doing business in an international setting. In addition to this “one stop” shopping, we bring to bear a sophisticated understanding of trade, investment and security policies as they have developed over the last 30 years. Efforts by U.S. industry to comply with complex export control rules in an increasingly multinational sourcing of technology environment, unique challenges in the information and services economy and the tension between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bilateral or regional free trade agreements are just some of the shifting currents through which international business must move. Policy changes in the wake of September 11 also bring increased emphasis on homeland security and export enforcement. We help our clients navigate the challenges of this complex and dynamic new world.
Our Washington-based group works on a daily basis with staff and political-level officials at the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State, Energy and Homeland Security, as well as the White House, U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. International Trade Commission and Congress. We offer particular depth and expertise in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals, energy, financial services, textiles and apparel, machinery and equipment, steel, information technology, and food sectors of business, although we represent clients from virtually all business sectors. We supplement these strengths, as needed, with the multidisciplinary talents of Alston & Bird’s 900 other attorneys, such as the firm’s Legislative & Public Policy, Antitrust, White Collar, Intellectual Property and Immigration Groups. Our long record of working closely with carefully selected foreign counsel and other experts in all major jurisdictions abroad further expands our network, permitting us to assist clients with top-quality counsel on trade issues virtually anywhere.
Our partners are nationally ranked in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Best Lawyers in Washington, DC 2009 (International Trade and Finance) and Who's Who in America.
OUR SERVICES
Our group handles the full range of client needs, from advising on multinational business structuring to take advantage of duty-saving opportunities in trade agreements, to creating compliance programs that ensure that imports and exports are consistent with our clients’ legal responsibilities, to solving sensitive regulatory hurdles, making voluntary self-disclosures and negotiating enforcement penalties.
Our attorneys offer in-depth expertise in the following specific disciplines of international trade and regulatory practice:
- Export controls and antiboycott regulations
- Foreign assets controls, embargoes and sanctions
- The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- Foreign investment (CFIUS reviews, structuring of FOCI trust arrangements, etc)
- Customs law
- Trade remedy proceedings such as antidumping, countervailing duty and safeguards investigations, and other trade proceedings, both in the U.S. and abroad
- Unfair trade proceedings relating to intellectual property (Section 337)
- Multilateral (e.g., WTO, FTAA) and bilateral and regional agreements (e.g., NAFTA)
- International trade policy and legislative issues
- Duty saving programs such as foreign trade zones, drawback, GSP and TIBs
- Anti-money laundering and terrorist finance
- Data management and privacy
- Homeland security
- Hazardous materials transportation
- International financial institutions
BRINGING VALUE TO OUR CLIENTS
Our breadth of practice and expertise within each facet of international trade, combined with our focus on our client’s needs, leads to practical and efficient solutions to today’s most complex trade issues.