A Legal Checklist for Doing Business Internationally

Contents of this Article: Confirm Legality Create a Contract Protect Your Intellectual Property Comply With Export Control Laws Understand Employment Laws Comply With Tax Rules Lawyers love checklists, and we international business lawyers are no exception. Me, I love clients, not only because they are the lifeblood of my law firm and thus my livelihood,

China trademark movies

Chinese Entertainment Law: A New Audiovisual Work On The Horizon

China’s copyright law, in its present form, has been in place since 2010 and numerous proposals for amendments have been floated since that time. The National People’s Congress recently released another draft amendment and solicited public comment. As far as I can tell, this would be the 5th draft since 2010. In a recent post

china law blog

A Reality Check and a Word of Encouragement to the Aspiring International Lawyer

It has been eight years since my graduation from law school and business school. I started law school in the Fall of 2008 before the world fell apart . . . the last time. The reverberations of the financial crisis that started roiling the world in 2008 continued into 2012 when I graduated and started

expect the unexpected sign

Doing Business Overseas: The Trust Thing

As a business lawyer who specializes in international transactions, I spend about half of my time working on legal strategy with my clients. I describe legal strategy as figuring out what the right way is to get from A to B, and those are often separated by international borders, vast oceans, and language and cultural

young people in Hong Kong protesting for their independence

On Secession

One of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) most persistent bugbears are separatist threats—real or imagined—on the fringes of its empire. The most recent manifestation of this concern has been the CCP’s response to the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong. On May 20, 2020, the National People’s Congress adopted a decision regarding “national security” in Hong

forced labor sanctions

China Products Made With Forced Labor Are Now in U.S. Customs’ Crosshairs

On May 1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced it had issued a withhold release order (WRO) against hair products manufactured by a Xinjiang company called Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories Co. Ltd. (Haolin). The WRO was issued under the authority of 19 U.S.C. 1307, which prohibits importing merchandise produced by forced labor. To be

Force Majeure lawyers

Force Majeure in the Time of Coronavirus

Way back in the pre-coronavirus days — October 30-2019 — in Do Not Let Force Majeure be a Major Force In Your China Contract, we did a post warning of force majeure provisions in contracts with Chinese companies. That post began with the following warning/joke; Pull out and look at your contract with your Chinese

illegal transshipping

Transshipment: No Magic Remedy Against Tariffs

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

Illegal transshipping false claims act

Illegal Transshipping/False Country of Origin — Help Us Help You Get Rich

Earlier this year, “Univar USA Inc. paid  U.S. $62.5 Million to Resolve Allegations that it Evaded $36 Million in Antidumping Duties on Imported Chinese Saccharin.”  My law firm profited handsomely from this case because we brought it to the government’s attention and then assisted on it. The United States Department of Justice describes this case

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