This is part one in a new series on the legal side of having your products manufactured ex-China. Ten years ago, our international manufacturing lawyers would frequently need to spend 10-20 minutes with clients and potential clients, justifying the benefits of having NNN Agreements and Manufacturing Agreements with Chinese manufacturers. And then another 10-20 minutes explaining
The uncertainty surrounding products manufactured in China is causing many foreign companies (especially those that sell their products to the United States) to ask us what they can do to mitigate their risks and where else they could look for getting their products made. See Has Sourcing from China Become too Risky? Decisions about leaving
I am a glass half full kind of guy, which means that when I am reading and hearing all the bad news and pessimistic (and often well-researched) opinions coming out of the media, Twitter, academia, and the blogosphere (including this blog), I still think there must be a viable and a better path forward in
For more than a year we’ve been relentlessly writing about how China has become so much riskier for manufacturing and how so many companies that manufacture in China are desperately looking to move their manufacturing elsewhere. I predict that at least 50 percent of the American and European companies that do all of their manufacturing
I have a good friend with whom I formerly worked at a big law firm. He is smart as hell and a terrific lawyer. He is now the General Counsel and EVP at a big company. But when we were practicing law together, he would often talk seriously and wistfully about leaving the practice of
Our international dispute resolution lawyers are involved in multiple cross border litigation matters hit hard by the coronavirus. By way of one example, depositions scheduled for Chinese witnesses are having to be cancelled for the following reasons (among others): The coronavirus is impacting pretty much everyone in China. Travel within China is impossible for some and
A few days ago, in China Manufacturing: “Elvis Has Left the Building”, we mentioned a South China Morning Post article suggesting the manufacturing exodus from China will not abate, regardless of any patches trade negotiators manage to place on the overall, strained U.S.-China relationship. That article included some sobering stats on the giant sucking sound we
Just got back from teaching an International Law course at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, IN. I team taught this course with an experienced and excellent law professor, Professor Hannah Buxbaum. Professor Buxbaum is a powerhouse and I ended up learning a ton from both her and the students in the class. Teaching
The US-China Trade War is and will be the new normal. Relations between the EU and China are soomewhat better, but those are quickly getting worse as well. If you are doing business in China or with China you should at least once every day look in a mirror and say this: Relations between
Got an email the other day from a good-sized company the other day asking about the benefit of having manufacturing contracts with companies in countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The email went something like this (I say “something” because I’ve changed it so nobody will ever be able to identify it): I am
