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Capabilities

International Trade

Located in Washington, D.C., Geneva, and Brussels, our International Trade team helps major U.S. and non-U.S. manufacturers, service providers, financial institutions, investors, and sovereign and industry clients navigate the complex world of international trade through a range of regulatory, dispute settlement, litigation, policy, and enforcement mechanisms.

Our International Trade team, including former government and World Trade Organization (WTO) officials, trade remedy accounting and data specialists, and foreign legal consultants, practices before the full range of governmental and international bodies to help our clients manage a wide spectrum of international trade matters including:

  • Trade remedy cases and appeals, in which we help manufacturers combat unfair trade and defend the value of their corporate assets through U.S. anti-dumping, countervailing duty (anti-subsidy), safeguard, and other actions – including the first trade remedy case affecting more than $1.5 billion of annual imports from China, the first countervailing duty petitions to be successfully filed in the United States against subsidized imports from China and Vietnam, the first “critical circumstances” retroactive application of duties in 20 years, and successful appeals in federal courts. We also advise clients that are involved in similar proceedings in the European Union, Latin America, Africa, and Asia;
  • U.S., UK, and EU export control laws, economic sanctions, and anti-money laundering laws, including advising financial institutions and fintech companies on their unique compliance obligations, and assisting U.S. and non-U.S. companies with transactional counsel, export classification and licensing, developing and implementing internal compliance systems, investigating potential violations, filing disclosures, and responding to enforcement actions brought by government trade regulatory agencies;
  • Customs compliance and litigation, including mitigating risk and maximizing value with respect to classification, country of origin, forced labor, and valuation requirements of U.S. customs laws (including import laws and regulations that are enforced at the border by partner government agencies), audits, focused assessments, prior disclosures, civil and criminal enforcement actions, and UK and EU customs laws and related policies;
  • Trade and investment-related national security investigations, including U.S. Section 232 investigations representing domestic companies and foreign strategic, private equity, and sovereign investors in foreign investment reviews, such as Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviews in the United States, similar reviews in the EU and other countries, and Foreign Ownership, Control, and Influence (FOCI) mitigation of foreign investment in U.S. classified operations;
  • Section 337 investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission, in which companies are injured by unfairly traded imported products, including products that infringe valid and enforceable U.S. intellectual property rights, particularly in investigations involving the sectors most commonly affected by this type of investigation – electrical, computer and mechanical patents;
  • WTO dispute settlement on subsidies, intellectual property, agriculture, and other WTO matters, including advising governments on accession negotiations, multilateral trade negotiations, implementation of WTO commitments, and market access strategies for goods and services;
  • Free trade agreements, including advising companies and governments during the negotiations and with the enforcement and compliance with labor provisions, rules of origin, and other provisions under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), and other agreements;
  • Market access, including how to reduce or eliminate barriers to market access under existing international trade agreements and how international trade obligations may affect current or future investments or operations;
  • U.S.-China trade agreement and Section 301 investigations, including participation in all aspects of the investigations (including witness testimony and written comments) and assisting clients to manage trade flows affected by the hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs imposed on imports from China;
  • International trade policy, lobbying and legislation, through our firm’s advocacy before the U.S. Congress, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the European Commission, the UK Department of Trade and Industry, and other U.S., UK, EU, and intergovernmental bodies on multilateral and bilateral trade issues;
  • Climate change and international trade, in which we help industries create and execute climate change strategies and assess the consistency of existing and proposed climate change measures with WTO agreements and other international trade commitments; and
  • Additional areas of trade practice, including applications for GSP preferences, foreign trade zone applications, reshoring and strengthening domestic supply chains, using the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process to obtain tariff relief, and e-commerce issues.

Across these efforts, we work to add value by making the international trade laws and treaty systems work for our clients.

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Recognition

Recognized as Best Law Firm of the Year


American Lawyer Industry Awards, 2023

“King and Spalding has the best team in the practice of international trade. We have seen the results over many years of engaging K&S to represent us in the ITC. There are no other firms that prepare better for their cases.”


Client Quote, Legal 500 US 2023

Ranked Tier 1 Best Law Firms for International Trade and Finance Law – Washington, D.C.


U.S. News & World Report, 2023

Ranked Band 1 Highly Regarded in Export Controls and Economic Sanctions


Chambers USA, 2023

Ranked Band 1 WTO – Switzerland


Legal 500 EMEA, 2023

Ranked as a leading law firm in Customs, Trade Remedies & Trade Policy, IP Section 337


Chambers USA, 2023

Ranked as a leading law firm in International Trade/WTO


Chambers Europe, 2023

Ranked as a leading law firm in Customs and Export Controls & Economic Sanctions, Trade Remedies & Trade Policy, CFIUS, Patents Litigation ITC


Legal 500 US, 2023

Ranked as a leading law firm in Customs, Trade, WTO And Anti-Dumping – Belgium


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Recommended Practice for International Trade


Latin Lawyer, 2023

Three-time winner of “International Trade Group of the Year”


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Three-time winner of “Award for Excellence in International Trade”


Chambers USA

“I would not go anywhere else for International Trade advice.”


Client Quote, Legal 500 US