Trade Negotiations, Legislation and Policy

Our attorneys bring years of experience at the highest levels of government. Our team includes attorneys who formerly held such titles as assistant secretary of commerce, chief negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, chief counsel to the Senate Minority Leader, staff member for the House Rules and Agriculture Committees, and counsel at the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission.

Members of Barnes & Thornburg's international trade practice have played key roles, whether in government or private practice, in many of the most important recent WTO and bilateral trade negotiations. Our attorneys have:

• Managed trade remedy negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) 
• Collaborated with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on a classification dispute at the World Customs Organization (WCO) 
• Chaired U.S.-China talks on macroeconomic reforms and the steel industry 
• Negotiated chapters of free trade agreements with Central America, the Dominican Republic, Singapore, Australia, Chile, Panama, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Colombia and Peru 
• Lobbied for changes to the NAFTA Rules of Origin 
• Negotiated customs enforcement and quota agreements with several nations

Members of our international trade practice have also been actively involved, both on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch, in key trade-related legislative issues, including legislation to create and renew trade preference programs and legislation to implement free trade agreements.

We work closely with clients to adopt the most efficient, cost-effective strategy to effectuate our clients- objectives. We maintain relationships with decision-makers in Congress and in the executive branch, interacting regularly with officials within the Executive Office of the President, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of State, Department of Commerce, International Trade Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor, and the House and Senate.