Import compliance can be a challenge to businesses operating in the global environment. Importation issues include the entry process, tariff classification, valuation, country of origin, free trade agreement eligibility, duty deferral possibilities, and additional costs or restrictions arising from trade remedy actions. Adding to these import challenges is an intensifying trade enforcement environment and constantly evolving legal landscape. Failure to recognize and adapt to this environment can cause disruptions in your business’s global supply chain and expose your company to substantial unexpected duties and monetary penalties.
We help clients identify issues, assess risks, structure transactions, make sourcing decisions, and utilize duty savings programs. We provide effective and creative counseling to clients in audits, enforcement actions, and administrative proceedings conducted by CBP and in litigation before the U.S. Court of International Trade and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Our lawyers deliver sophisticated and practical advice to clients in a broad range of industries, including steel, automobiles and parts, chemical, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, textiles and apparel, aerospace, green energy, and office products. We also offer a nationally renowned U.S. customs broker licensing examination preparation class, which for more than 20 years has prepared hundreds of students all over the country.
Our customs practice focuses on the U.S., but working with trusted friends and colleagues with whom we have a long history, we have assisted clients on customs matters globally, including in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, EU countries, Russia, China, and Japan. Additionally, U.S. customs problems often involve other agencies such as the FDA or EPA, and in those cases we work with Alston & Bird lawyers dedicated to those regulatory areas.