Why a Trip to Your Overseas Factory is the Secret Weapon You Didn’t Know You Had Imagine shaking hands with the person who crafts your product, touring the bustling factory floor, and uncovering hidden opportunities for innovation. This isn’t a scene from a dream; it’s the reality of visiting your overseas manufacturer. For many businesses,
China Manufacturing Problems are Increasing Imagine investing millions of dollars into a product launch, only to receive defective or unusable goods from your Chinese manufacturer – a scenario that could cripple your business. Unfortunately, this nightmare is increasingly becoming a reality for many companies that rely on China manufacturing, without proper safeguards. The increasingly tense
Foreign Language Contracts are Key I must have told clients at least a hundred times in my career that “foreign language contracts are key.” In this post, I explain why I so often say this and why this is the case. The Complexity of Language in Legal Contexts One of the things I often do
The Crucial Role of the Bill of Materials Manufacturing agreements between product buyers and their manufacturers typically come with all sorts of clauses dealing with choice of law, indemnification, time of delivery, failure rate, price, payment, and various other contractual provisions. The Bill of Materials can often make or break the success of a manufacturing
Vagaries of registering license agreements in China Was just cc’ed on an email from one of my law firm’s China software licensing lawyers to a client that licenses its software through a distributor in China. Our licensing lawyer was responding to a question about registering the software licensing agreement with the Chinese government. The below
China Representative Offices With so many companies becoming reluctant to go “all in on China,” our China lawyers are seeing an increase in companies looking to just “dip their toe” into China via a Representative Office. Unfortunately, there are inherent limitations on China Rep Offices, and those limitations mean they seldom make sense for most
Decoding U.S. Tariff Classifications – A Comprehensive Guide For businesses involved in international trade, effectively navigating U.S. custom regulations can lead to significant cost savings, compliance benefits, and a smoother trade process. A key component of this process is understanding tariff classifications. What is a Tariff Classification? Tariff classification assigns a unique code to every
Last week, I spoke at Brigham Young University’s annual China Conference, which is now in its eighth year under BYU professor Peter Chan. This year the conference’s theme was Peace Together: Continuing a Culture of Collaboration. Professor Chan has become a good friend over the past few years since I started attending the conference. He
The Misconception of Foreign Ownership of Chinese Factories A common assumption among Western companies is that partnering with a Chinese manufacturer owned by a Western entity will lower risks and simplify the transaction. However, this belief is often based on a fundamental misunderstanding of Chinese business law and ownership structures. This post aims to dispel
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by the United States Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and
