Disputes with a trading partner
Many trade disputes are commercial at heart: a buyer rejects goods, a seller fails to deliver, or the parties disagree over quality or payment under a letter of credit. These are resolved through the forum the contract chose, whether a court or arbitration, and the governing law may be the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods when buyer and seller are in member countries, such as the United States and Korea, and have not excluded it. The shipping term the parties used often decides when risk passed from seller to buyer. Gather the contract, purchase orders, inspection reports, shipping documents, and the correspondence about the rejected goods.
Disputes with the government over goods at the border
Other trade disputes are with the U.S. government. Customs and Border Protection decides how imported goods are classified, valued, and treated for country of origin, and those decisions drive the duty owed. A party that disagrees can generally file an administrative protest with CBP, subject to a deadline that should not be missed, and further review can go to the U.S. Court of International Trade. Antidumping and countervailing duty cases follow a separate path, in which the Commerce Department examines dumping or subsidies and the U.S. International Trade Commission decides whether a domestic industry is injured. The ITC also hears cases about unfair import practices, often involving patents, that can lead to orders excluding goods from the U.S. market.
Sorting out the forum
Disputes between governments over trade rules, such as those at the World Trade Organization, are brought by states, so a company's role there is usually to work through its own government. When you bring us a trade dispute, we first identify which of these tracks you are on, because deadlines, forums, and the kind of evidence needed differ greatly from one to the next. For customs and trade remedy matters we often work alongside licensed customs brokers, and for commercial disputes we review the contract terms and the realistic enforcement options. You leave knowing which body decides your issue and what has to happen next.
