Trade Policy & Negotiations

Steptoe has been involved for decades in the most high-profile and complex trade disputes, including those involving solar and polysilicon, steel, lumber, uranium, chemicals, motorcycles, and aluminum. Especially in such high-profile, high-stakes matters, integrating the policy, political, and technical legal dimensions of our engagements positions us to achieve our clients’ goals that cannot be attained through litigation alone.

Steptoe has assisted clients in achieving successful resolutions of some of the most contentious disputes in the field. For example, we have helped clients attain positive results in antidumping and countervailing duty settlements and suspensions agreements involving lumber, sugar, and uranium trade.

Together with our government affairs and public policy practice, we work to ensure that emerging legislation establishes or maintains favorable trade and investment conditions for our clients. We closely monitor and advise our clients on legislative developments in international trade policy and remain prepared to advocate before key decision makers on behalf of our clients’ diverse interests. The Steptoe international trade practice has secured significant amendments to US trade remedy laws as well as tariff modifications through the US Miscellaneous Tariff Bills (MTB).

We bring to bear a broad range of experiences in developing market access strategies tailored to our clients’ goals and the special regulatory and cultural environment of the specific markets of interest. We are particularly well-positioned to assist clients in enhancing market access in major foreign markets in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, where we have worked closely with government officials and stakeholders. Steptoe has achieved strong results for clients seeking new and expanded access to key markets in Asia (including China, India, Korea, and Japan), the EU, and Brazil.

We have extensively advised governments and companies with respect to WTO, free trade agreement, and investment treaty negotiations. Our most extensive engagement in this area has been advising the South Korean government in the Korea-US and Korea-EU free trade agreement negotiations and implementation, as well as in negotiations for international investment agreements. The Steptoe trade team also assists governments and private companies to address a variety of complex and changing negotiating contexts and political dynamics, such as in regard to the ongoing NAFTA renegotiations and the Brexit process. In advising companies on negotiations with foreign governments, we bring to bear insights from negotiating experience arising from former high-level government service.

Steptoe has advised governments in high-profile WTO disputes and discussions and has counseled governments on how to utilize technical-level WTO fora to secure favorable terms of trade.