Overview
Amy Lentz advises sovereign and non-sovereign clients on a variety of international trade matters, focusing in particular on high-profile disputes arising under the agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Amy is well-acquainted with and well-known within the system, having litigated a wide range of issues concerning the interpretation and application of WTO agreements before dispute settlement panels and the WTO Appellate Body. Amy represents sovereign clients in matters arising under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM), the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (AD), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Amy also counsels private sector clients in countervailing duty investigations. She is representing the Canadian softwood lumber industry in a decades-old dispute concerning imports of lumber from Canada, the largest and most complex countervailing duty (CVD) case ever litigated.
- District of Columbia
- Virginia
- US Court of International Trade
- US District Court, District of Columbia
- J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 2008, Dean’s Scholar, Articles Editor, Virginia Journal of International Law
- B.A., Bowdoin College, 2004, cum laude, Government
Representative Matters
- Representing the Government of Australia in connection with the tobacco plain packaging disputes, which were among the largest and most complex disputes ever to be filed at the WTO. These disputes implicated critically important questions concerning the relationship between measures to protect public health and the trade-related obligations that WTO members have under the WTO Agreements. Steptoe helped Australia achieve sweeping victories before the panel and the Appellate Body.
- Representing the Canadian softwood lumber industry in a decades-old dispute over imports of lumber from Canada, the largest and most complex CVD case ever litigated. The US lumber industry filed new AD/CVD investigation against imports of softwood lumber from Canada in 2016, and Steptoe is playing a prominent role in this investigation.
- Representing the government of China in ongoing compliance proceedings in relation to one of the most comprehensive trade remedy challenges ever launched at the WTO. The challenge involved 18 separate countervailing duty determinations issued by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) against China over five years. China asked the panel to apply the landmark legal victories Steptoe previously achieved on China’s behalf before the Appellate Body to certain recurring legal issues in the 18 determinations under challenge, including the DOC's treatment of state-owned enterprises in China as "public bodies."
- Representing the government of Brazil before the WTO dispute settlement body in response to complaints brought by the European Union and Japan. The disputes are of systemic importance to Brazil, because virtually all elements of its industrial policy were challenged by the complainants as discriminatory taxes or prohibited import-substitution subsidies.
- Represented the government of China when it challenged the consistency of US legislation retroactively authorizing the imposition of countervailing duties on imports from so-called "non-market economies" (including China) with the transparency requirements in Article X of the GATT. China disagreed with the panel’s central legal finding, and the Appellate Body reversed this finding and agreed with the interpretation that had been advanced by China.
- Represented the government of China in its defense of a challenge by the United States under the GATS in relation to certain alleged "restrictions and requirements maintained by China pertaining to electronic payment services for payment card transactions and the suppliers of those services." The panel rejected the US claim that China had established a monopoly for the processing of domestic payment card transactions, which was the principal claim at issue in the dispute.
- Representing the government of Argentina before the WTO dispute settlement body in response to complaints brought by the European Union, United States, and Japan regarding Argentina’s import regime. The elements of Argentina’s trade policy at issue are of crucial importance to the Argentine administration, both economically and politically.
- Assisted the government of China in obtaining landmark Appellate Body rulings that the parallel imposition of antidumping and countervailing duty measures against certain Chinese imports amounts to the application of a “double remedy” that is inconsistent with Article 19.3 of the SCM Agreement, and that state-owned enterprises in China are not "public bodies" under Article 1.1(a)(1) solely by virtue of their majority government ownership.
Speaking Engagements
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"Keeping Track of WTO Disputes: Recent Decisions with Important Policy Implications," Association of Women in International Trade, Washington, DC, June 16, 2017
News & Publications
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 28 Practice Rankings, 34 Individual Awards in Legal 500 US 2023
June 14, 2023
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 25 Practice, 72 Individual Mentions in Chambers USA 2023
June 1, 2023
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 16 Practice, 40 Individual Mentions in Chambers Global 2023
February 21, 2023
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 27 Practice Rankings, 26 Individual Awards in Legal 500 US 2022
June 16, 2022
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 27 Practice, 72 Individual Mentions in Chambers USA 2022
June 3, 2022
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 15 Practice, 43 Individual Mentions in Chambers Global 2022
February 22, 2022
Resources
Events
Seminars & Events
Global Trade and Enforcement Symposium in Hong Kong
June 1, 2023
Speakers: Renato Antonini, Yongqing Bao, Brigida Benitez, Brian G. Burke, Ali Burney, Henry Cao, John Caracappa, Boyd Cloern, Robyn C. Crowther, Brian J. Fleming, Coy Garrison, Zoey Hong, Stanley C. Kuo, Amy J. Lentz, Michelle L. Levin, Patrick F. Linehan, Jamie Lucia, Alexandra Melia, Cáitrín McKiernan, Eva Monard, Darryl Nirenberg, Gwendolyn Prothro Renigar, Angus Rodger, Guy Soussan, David M. Stetson, Grace Wang, Philip R. West, Charles Whiddington, Wendy Wysong, Lin Yang, Bo Yue, Wilson Zhao
Noteworthy
- Chambers USA, International Trade: Trade Remedies & Trade Policy, Nationwide (2021-2025)
- Legal 500 US, Dispute Resolution: International Trade (2019)
- Legal 500 US, Leading Lawyer, Trade Remedies & Trade Policy (2024)
- Legal 500 US, Next Generation Partner, Dispute Resolution: International Trade (2020-2023)
- Law360, Rising Star, International Trade (2017)
- Who's Who Legal: Trade and Customs (2022-2024)