Perkins Coie’s Trade Policy Team

Members of our team have devoted their careers to working in and with other countries, often serving as the bridge between companies and governments with differing interests and communication styles. We use these varied skills to help each client chart a successful course in the global market.

We provide clients with the full range of services relating to trade policy, including strategic legal and policy advice, negotiation representation and domestic and foreign government affairs. When necessary, we litigate on behalf of clients in national courts and international fora. Whether our client is a company seeking to expand in the United States or other markets, a government negotiating or implementing a trade or investment agreement, or a corporation, industry or government embroiled in a trade dispute, we offer creative strategies and solutions to secure a favorable result. Where advisable, we team with local law firms and other experts to enhance client service.

Members of the Perkins Coie trade policy team have been ranked among the top international trade lawyers by Chambers & Partners USA, Chambers & Partners Global and a host of other lawyer ranking entities.

Services

Perkins Coie’s trade policy team advises multinational corporations, trade associations, NGOs and governments on the full range of trade policy matters, including:

Helping Clients Influence U.S. Legislation and Regulation

Our trade policy team 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.

Obtaining, Preserving and Increasing Market Access

For over 30 years, we have advised governments, industries and companies on how to obtain, preserve and increase market access. We have particularly deep experience advising clients that face WTO-inconsistent measures that restrict market access for goods and services. We have developed and implemented legal and political strategies for each client, including negotiating directly with the government maintaining the measure, engaging NGOs with interests parallel to those of our client and using other political strategies to pressure the government to withdraw the measure. When necessary,we have represented affected governments at the WTO, initiating and litigating WTO dispute settlement proceedings and then ensuring compliance or advising with regard to retaliation. Governments we have advised in this and related contexts include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Poland, St. Lucia (Caribbean ACP States), Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

Influencing Trade Agreement Negotiations

Trade negotiations provide a vehicle for governments and companies to attain objectives in a specific market or set of markets. Objectives can range from increasing access to a country’s market for a company’s product or service, to removing a specific barrier, to establishing a commercial presence, to obtaining stronger IP protection. We frequently advise governments, companies and industry associations regarding the negotiation of trade and investment agreements. Our experience extends to many major negotiations, including:

• The Uruguay Round agreements that created the WTO
• The Information Technology Agreement under the WTO
• Negotiations occurring under the WTO Doha Development Agenda
• The WTO accessions of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine
• The North American Free Trade Agreement
• The DR-CAFTA
• Various other bilateral and regional trade and investment agreements.

USTR currently is negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam (Korea and other countries may join as well). Companies that have trade issues with these countries should consider participating in these negotiations. We can help companies ensure that their concerns are considered, and their goals achieved.

Section 301 and Special 301

USTR oversees these two related processes. Section 301 requires USTR to investigate formal allegations of unfair trade practices by other countries, as with the investigation of Ukraine’s intellectual property rights policies and practices which USTR initiated in 2013. A Section 301 investigation can lead USTR to initiate bilateral negotiations or a WTO dispute. Special 301 addresses foreign countries’ practices with regard to IP protection. Under Special 301, USTR collects information from U.S. companies (and others) and publishes an annual report on the degree to which foreign countries fail to respect U.S. IP. (As with the investigation of Ukraine, the Special 301 process can lead to a Section 301 investigation.) We help clients navigate the Section 301 and Super 301 processes, including petitioning USTR for relief or advising foreign entities caught in the process.

Annual National Trade Estimates (NTE) Report

Every year, USTR seeks industry input to identify instances in which U.S. products are facing discrimination or other unfair treatment in overseas markets (e.g., subsidies, biased product standards, onerous labeling standards, unfair distribution requirements). USTR then publishes the NTE Report, a country-by-country listing of trade barriers faced by U.S. companies. This is an excellent method of communicating with USTR and with a foreign government. It raises the profile of the issue and adds credibility that might not otherwise exist when a single company raises the issue with its congressional representatives, U.S. executive branch officials or the relevant foreign government.

Triggering Bilateral Negotiations or WTO Dispute Settlement

Whether or not an issue regarding discrimination or other unfair foreign activity has been listed in the NTE Report or investigated under Section 301, a company can raise it informally with USTR (and Congress and other U.S. government agencies). Companies can ask USTR to negotiate bilaterally with the country involved or to initiate WTO negotiations or dispute settlement proceedings. Our lawyers have significant experience with negotiations and WTO disputes. We advise clients throughout each stage of the process, from developing and implementing political strategies to assisting in negotiations or dispute settlement.

Lobbying Countries to Remove Trade Barriers or Enforce a Client’s IP Rights

Increasing access to a foreign market may require convincing a foreign government to withdraw laws or regulations that restrict imports. Pressure can be brought to bear through USTR or Congress, but often a direct approach to the foreign government is a more cost-effective way to obtain a company’s goal. A direct approach also has the advantage of preserving a company’s important relationships with foreign government officials. We can help by setting up meetings with the appropriate officials and developing and implementing culturally sensitive approaches to achieve client goals.

Representative Engagements

• Rebranding a Significant British Company. A Perkins Coie attorney provided legal and government affairs advice to a corporation that had increased its U.S. operations, but was still viewed by the U.S. government as a quintessentially British company. He designed and helped the company implement legal and government affairs strategies to educate key U.S. decision makers regarding the company’s many contributions to the U.S. economy. Coupled with a strategy directed at USTR, this helped the company obtain favorable treatment in the NTE Report on issues of critical interest.
• Saudi Arabia Special 301. A Perkins Coie attorney represented the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on various post-WTO accession trade barrier issues, including USTR’s “Special 301” (intellectual property) process. He obtained removal from the Priority Watch List and then complete “delisting” of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the course of four years. He advised on all aspects of the process, working closely with the lead Saudi government official and U.S. stakeholders, including the leadership of all major U.S. industry associations focused on intellectual property issues (PhARMA, IIPA, MPAA, etc.).
• U.S. Section 301 Investigation of the EU Banana Import Regime. A Perkins Coie attorney represented the Caribbean banana-producing states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States, defending them in USTR’s Section 301 investigation of the European Union’s banana import regime. As former European colonies, the ACP States were beneficiaries under the Lomé Convention of preferential access to the EU market for bananas. In addition to providing legal advice, he worked with a leading public relations firm to design and implement a political strategy to present the ACP states’ position to the U.S. government. He also participating in all aspects of the WTO case that began when the Uruguay Round Agreements Act took effect.
• U.S. Super 301 Investigation of Semiconductors from the Republic of Korea. Perkins Coie attorneys led the legal team representing the Korean semiconductor industry in defending against various offensive trade actions by the U.S. DRAM manufacturer Micron Technology. In this proceeding, Micron Technology petitioned USTR to initiate a Super 301 investigation. We devised and implemented legal and political strategies to counter Micron’s request, and USTR declined to open the investigation.
• Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). We have represented numerous companies seeking to eliminate tariffs on imported inputs. The MTB, which traditionally had been enacted every two years, provides a legislative vehicle that companies can use to decrease the duties on products they import, if the products are not produced or are in short supply in the United States. We work with congressional representatives, USTR and other agencies to use the MTB to obtain tax relief for clients.
• Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). We have advised companies and governments on the U.S. GSP program. The GSP program provides preferential treatment (i.e., zero duties) to imports of many products from developing countries under the theory that increased access to the U.S. market will strengthen these countries’ economies. However, not all products are covered and various exceptions apply to continuation of benefits. Every year, USTR considers requests to add or remove products, and to maintain benefits that might otherwise be cancelled. We help companies and countries that seek either to extend and preserve benefits or to reduce or eliminate benefits.