1. Manufacturing in China is Risky For many, the short answer is yes. Let me explain.... 2. U.S. Tariffs Make Manufacturing in China Risky First there are the tariffs, which come and go and come and go, but are always a risk for any company that buys product from China for sale in the United
1. Western Companies Want to Leave China and Are Leaving China The Wall Street Journal ran a front page article last week on American companies seeking to reduce their exposure to China. This article, Trade Deal Alone Won’t Fix Strained U.S.-China Business Relations, reinforces what we have been saying for months about how American and
1. We have no such list. Sorry. Pretty much every week, someone writes one of our international manufacturing lawyers to: a. Ask about a particular overseas manufacturer; b. Complain about a particular manufacturer and to ask us to tell our blog readers about this company or report them to such and such government or embassy
When I was a wee lad of maybe ten, growing up in small town middle America, one of my best friends, Pete Collins (a/k/a/ The Big Man), somehow managed to snare some tickets for a professional wrestling event in my town. So we went to some disgusting patched together arena for the event -- and
1. China's New Foreign Investment Law Under U.S. pressure, China recently adopted a new Foreign Investment Law 中华人民共和国外商投资法 ("FIL") that had been under discussion for several years. Many believe this law will lead to foreign invested enterprises being treated the same as domestic Chinese private businesses. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), the existing system that limits
Despite trade tensions, China's declining economy, and overall uncertainty, our China lawyers have been getting a steady stream of requests from companies looking to set up their own factories in China. These are mostly companies that supply parts to multinational manufacturers that make products in China and are getting pressure from the multinationals to set
A successful product launch can give a Chinese factory, trademark squatter, or competitor information and leverage you cannot easily take back. Before going public, startups manufacturing in China should secure key IP, protect sensitive information, verify their factories, and lock down development, tooling, and production rights.
Not surprisingly, our China lawyers are seeing a massive increase in foreign companies seeking to reduce or eliminate their China ties. Many are seeking to terminate their relationship with their Chinese suppliers and move production elsewhere (so far, it's been mostly to Vietnam, Taiwan, Poland, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, India and Malaysia). The other day I
With the recent onslaught of tariffs, our international manufacturing lawyers are increasingly drafting manufacturing contracts for Asian countries beyond China. In the last few weeks alone, we've drafted manufacturing contracts for Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and India. We also have seen a noticeable uptick in our Mexico contracts as well. One of the issues our
Everything China comes in waves and China trademark "theft" is no different. When we first started this blog back in 2006, we would get a call just about every week from someone wanting to sue a Chinese company blocking the company's product from leaving China. We hated those calls because most of the time our
