Sidley’s Washington D.C.- and Brussels-based Customs practice is adept at the “nuts and bolts” of customs issues, while at the same time being well-versed in the nuances of trade policy. Members of our practice have served in numerous U.S. government, European Commission and international organization roles involving the regulation of imports and exports. Through our representation of prominent trade associations, foreign sovereigns, and multinationals, we stay at the front lines of customs reform and trade facilitation, and the challenging integration of the new customs mission of cargo security.
We have extensive experience in the full range of traditional customs issues, including tariff classification, valuation, transfer pricing, origin, labeling, trade agreements and preference programs, counterfeits and border enforcement of IP rights, specific customs regimes such as inward processing, duty remission, and special (antidumping and countervailing) duties. We regularly appear before Customs and Border Protection and other U.S. agencies and before the European Commission and national EU customs administrations. When matters cannot be satisfactorily resolved at the administrative level, we are prepared to advance our clients' interests in the U.S. courts of exclusive jurisdiction for trade issues and in the judicial systems of the EU and its Member States. We also work with international organizations like the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) on customs and trade facilitation issues. Our group is currently litigating the first-ever dispute under the Customs Valuation Agreement at the WTO.
A substantial part of our practice is in the trade compliance arena. We have assisted many companies in the evaluation, development, or enhancement of import compliance programs. We have conducted internal reviews and investigations of potentially non-compliant activity, recommended disclosures when appropriate, and devised remedial measures as warranted. When customs authorities launch formal audits, we are prepared to assist our clients in those proceedings. In the event that transactions become the subject of enforcement activity, we are adept at representing our clients' interests at every stage of such proceedings, from administrative to judicial fora.
Sidley’s Customs practice has been at the forefront of recent trends in the expansion of the missions of customs authorities, most specifically supply chain security and import safety. We have served as private sector representatives to the WCO in its development and implementation of the SAFE Framework initiative for global trade security, including the development of authorized economic operator (AEO) programs. On behalf of trade association clients and companies in affected industries, we have worked with the U.S. administration and Congress on the increasingly important issue of import safety.