Exporting, importing and investing in the global market are a necessity for successful businesses and a national economic priority for governments around the world. Actions in Washington, Geneva, Tokyo and Brussels are felt in Beijing, Brasilia and Delhi and vice-versa. The rules of the WTO and other trade and investment agreements, combined with individual countries’ domestic laws, regulations and policies, significantly affect, and often determine, the outcome of companies’, industries’ and governments’ efforts to attain their objectives around the world.  International organizations, such as the international financial institutions and standard-setting bodies, add a further layer of complexity. They interact with government policies and have a significant impact on corporate global growth strategies and the trade and economic agendas of governments. 

To be fully effective in the global market, private entities and governments must comprehend and profit from the nexus of global, regional and bilateral rules of commerce and investment; domestic laws, regulations and policies; and the influence of international institutions. Miller & Chevalier understands these different sets of rules, policies and interests. We help our clients effectively and efficiently navigate the global market, where the competition is fierce and the stakes are high.

Our International Trade Policy Practice provides legal and policy advice, negotiation and litigation strategies and representation, and foreign and domestic government affairs advocacy to clients that aggressively pursue their positions in the global market. Whether our client is a company seeking to expand its markets in the United States or other countries, a government negotiating or implementing a trade or investment agreement, or a corporation, industry or government embroiled in a trade dispute or trade-related litigation, Miller & Chevalier offers creative strategies and solutions that get results. 

Practice Overview

Members of Miller & Chevalier’s International Trade Policy Practice have broad-based experience representing corporations, trade associations, non-governmental organizations and governments. We offer substantial depth and breadth in the full range of trade policy matters, including:

• WTO negotiations, including accession negotiations;
• Bilateral trade and investment agreement negotiations;
• International trade litigation, including WTO, NAFTA and other bilateral disputes, and U.S. trade remedy proceedings;
• Market strategies in U.S. and other markets; and
• U.S. legislation and regulation-government affairs advice.

In addition, to help clients identify and advance their international trade and investment objectives, the International Trade Policy Practice is integrated with other relevant practice areas of the firm, including:

• Intellectual property rights protection;
• Customs;
• Foreign Corrupt Practice Act and related compliance issues;
• International and domestic taxation;
• International and domestic government contracting; and
• Litigation.

Due to our breadth, depth and overall reputation for excellence, Miller & Chevalier is ranked among the top international trade practices by Chambers USA.

Our International Trade Policy Practice includes a veteran group of skilled professionals who draw on extensive senior government and private practice experience to achieve clients' objectives. Members of the Practice have held senior positions in all major U.S. government entities with authority over international trade, including:

• General Counsel and Counselor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce;
• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Western Hemisphere Affairs;
• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs;
• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources;
• Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Multilateral Trade Negotiations;
• Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Latin American Affairs;
• Associate General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative;
• Legal Advisor, Office of the United States Trade Representative, Geneva, Switzerland;
• Director, Office of Policy, Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce;
• International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Finance Committee;
• International Trade and Agriculture Legislative Advisor to a U.S. Senator;
• Counsel, Ways and Means Committee, U.S. House of Representatives;
• Chief Counsel, U.S. Customs Service; and
• Assistant to the Chairman, U.S. International Trade Commission.

Members of the International Trade Policy Practice combine decades of government service with experience developed in private practice to provide unequalled service to clients. Our experience and expertise allows us to achieve client objectives in five core areas:

WTO Negotiations, Including Accession Negotiations

Miller & Chevalier has unmatched expertise in WTO negotiations, including accession negotiations. Members of the International Trade Policy Practice have been directly involved in negotiating agreements under the WTO on behalf of WTO Member governments, governments seeking membership and industries and companies. The group’s expertise has been developed through decades of experience in government service and private practice. Our representations extend beyond advising from “outside of the room”--we frequently have attended negotiations as experts accredited as part of a negotiating team. 

Our experience extends to all major negotiations over the past twenty years, including:

• All negotiations taking place under the WTO Doha Development Agenda;
• The accessions to the WTO of Saudi Arabia, China and Taiwan;
• Modifications to the Government Procurement Agreement;
• The Information Technology Agreement within the WTO; and
• The Uruguay Round agreements that created the WTO and its dispute settlement mechanism.

With regard to accession negotiations, Miller & Chevalier has unmatched experience in guiding governments through the enormously complicated and exacting process of negotiating entry into the WTO. For example, Members of the practice represented the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry in all aspects of the bilateral and multilateral negotiations and processes that led to Saudi Arabia’s accession to the WTO. They helped Saudi Arabia restructure its trade-related legal regimes and participated directly in nearly every change of law that allowed Saudi Arabia to become the 149^th Member of the WTO in December 2005. Throughout the process, they worked closely with senior and staff officials of the WTO Secretariat and of the U.S. government, the European Commission and other WTO Member delegations. 

Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement Negotiations

Members of our International Trade Policy Practice have deep expertise regarding free trade agreements (FTAs) and other bilateral trade and investment agreements. Our experience includes negotiating and implementing:

• The first U.S. FTA--the U.S. - Israel FTA,
• The U.S. - Canada FTA,
• The largest FTA--the North American FTA (NAFTA); and
• A long list of more recent FTAs, including:
• The U.S. - Chile FTA,
• The U.S. - Dominican Republic FTA/Central America FTA (CAFTA);
• The U.S. - Panama FTA; and
• The U.S. - Morocco FTA.

In addition, we have been directly involved in negotiating a number of bilateral sectoral and product-specific trade agreements, examples including:

• The Information Technology Agreement within the WTO;
• The U.S. - Japan Insurance Agreement;
• The U.S. - Japan Semiconductor Agreement;
• The U.S. - Mexico Agreement on Trade in Sugar and Sweeteners;
• The U.S. - Canada Softwood Lumber Agreements;
• The U.S. - Canada Agreement on Magazines/Periodicals; and 
• The U.S. - Brazil agreements on intellectual property rights and “informatics”.

The team has also been directly involved in negotiating other types of agreements, including bilateral investment treaties, standards and government procurement-related agreements.  

Our experience and expertise across the spectrum of international trade allows us to provide guidance on almost any issue that may arise during negotiations. Miller & Chevalier professionals have represented corporations; industries including agriculture, services and manufacturers; and governments, including Canada, Chile, Morocco, Israel, Mexico, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia.

International Trade Litigation, Including WTO and Bilateral Disputes, and U.S. Trade Remedy Proceedings

Miller & Chevalier has litigated hundreds of international trade and investment disputes, including many of the largest and most significant to date. Our efforts have helped clients achieve their goals in the United States and around the world. We have opened markets for clients’ products and helped them obtain relief from anti-competitive practices.

Members of the International Trade Policy Group have represented governments and private interests before various international fora, including:

• WTO dispute settlement panels and the WTO Appellate Body (and, before the creation of the WTO, GATT panels);
• NAFTA panels and Extraordinary Challenge Committees; and
• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral tribunals.

Our WTO dispute settlement experience is unmatched. Members of the Group have represented clients in over 100 WTO disputes (and over 60 GATT disputes before the WTO was created). They were the first private lawyers to litigate a Member’s case before a WTO panel and the Appellate Body.  While in government or private practice, members of the Group have represented numerous Member governments in WTO disputes, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, Jamaica, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, St. Lucia and the United States. Our experience extends to a wide range of sectors -- including agriculture, intellectual property, lumber and services -- and major industrial sectors such as aerospace, automobiles, film, footwear, leather, semi-conductors, steel and textiles and apparel.

The International Trade Policy Practice also has deep experience and expertise with regard to U.S. trade remedy proceedings, including anti-dumping, countervailing duty, safeguard, market disruption (China-specific safeguard) and other proceedings. We have represented clients in hundreds of cases in all relevant U.S. fora, including:

• U.S. federal courts at every level, including the Court of International Trade, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court;
• The U.S. Department of Commerce;
• The U.S. International Trade Commission; and
• The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Our experience extends to agriculture and all major industrial sectors.

For a list of representative experience of Miller & Chevalier attorneys and professionals, please click here .

Foreign and U.S. Market Strategies

Our primary focus in this practice area is helping clients develop and implement strategies to promote trade and investment. While in positions with the government, members of our team negotiated dozens of market access initiatives on behalf of the United States. These included industry sector initiatives, FTAs, investment agreements and treaties, and multilateral trade agreements. In private practice, we have drawn on this experience to develop and implement market expansion strategies in the United States and other markets for companies and industries. We help clients better understand the legal, regulatory and policy environment of target markets. Where a client already has entered a market, we work to enhance the conditions of competition or the environment for investment and trade. We counsel and advocate regarding relevant trade and investment agreements and negotiations; programs, policies and standards of international institutions; and laws, regulations and policies of the United States and other relevant governments. As described above, if litigation cannot be avoided, we aggressively pursue client interests in the proper forum, be it domestic or international. Where advisable, we team with local law firms to enhance client service. 

Recent projects in this area include:

• Developing and implementing technology sector industry regulatory objectives in China and Brazil;
• Developing and implementing a food and beverage company tariff and tax agenda in Mexico;
• Developing and implementing an effort to reduce anti-dumping duties in Brazil for a chemical company;
• Developing and implementing a tariff and tariff-rate quota market access strategy in Asia, Europe and Latin America for the U.S. dairy processing industry.
• Advising an energy company on developments in U.S. foreign and trade policy and international financial institution programs as they relate to the economic and political conditions of countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia; and
• Advising a large foreign direct investor facing aggressive and illegal foreign government tactics and actions in a key country in Asia.

U.S. Legislation and Regulation--Government Affairs Advice

Miller & Chevalier’s International Trade Policy Group includes seasoned government affairs professionals with substantial experience in developing and implementing legislative and regulatory strategies to help clients meet their objectives in the United States and around the world.  We provide the full range of government affairs services, including drafting legislation, influencing Congressional decision-making, representing clients in Executive Branch rulemaking and policy development, and coordinating the Executive Branch’s response to foreign government actions that are adverse to client interests in the United States or abroad.

Recent projects have included:

• Working with a coalition of companies to pursue and obtain passage of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill;
• Developing tax legislation to replace the Foreign Sales Corporation Tax with a WTO-compliant provision of law;
• Coordinating a coalition of companies and developing legislative language to ensure that implementation of federal law pertaining to an agriculture product market promotion program complies with U.S. international trade obligations;
• Coordinating a coalition of companies interested in proposed tariff legislation; and
• Guiding a company through an Executive Branch proceeding regarding the Generalized System of Preferences.