Our International Trade Law Group

Our International Trade Law Group provides sound practical solutions to legal and strategic issues arising in all areas of international trade. The Group offers services to a wide variety of businesses, industries and governmental clients. The depth and breadth of our experience allows us to advise clients on a complete range of trade issues.

The Group is comprised of some of Canada's most highly respected trade lawyers and advisors, who are located in each of our offices across Canada. In particular, our presence in Ottawa gives us direct and ready access to all Federal Government departments and agencies involved in international trade matters, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, Industry Canada, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT), Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Secretariat.

Our Services

Members of our International Trade Law Group are able to provide advice in all trade law areas, including the following:

• Advice to government, state enterprises, regulatory bodies and private industry clients relating to the application of and compliance with obligations under existing international trade agreements, including NAFTA, the World Trade Organization Agreement (WTO), the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement and the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
• Negotiating and legal advice to government and private industry clients involved in the negotiation of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
• Dispute settlement advice to governments, state enterprises, regulatory bodies and private industry clients relating to the settlement and arbitration of international trade and government procurement disputes under all manner of international trade agreements and domestic law applicable to international trade.
• Representation before all manner of regulatory and adjudicative bodies concerning international trade and government procurement issues, including dispute settlement bodies under NAFTA Chapters Eleven and Nineteen, the Agreement on Internal Trade, the CITT and the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
• Advice and representation on all aspects of Canadian domestic law applicable to trade in goods and services, including all manner of customs issues under the Customs Act and the Customs Tariff, anti-dumping and countervailing duty and safeguard actions under the Special Import Measures Act, import/export restraints and trade sanctions under the Export and Import Permits Act, the Special Economic Measures Act, the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act and the United Nations Act, and inter-provincial trade issues under the Agreement on Internal Trade.

Our Experience

• We advised both government and private industry clients during the Uruguay Round negotiations leading to WTO, including in the areas of agriculture, anti-dumping and countervailing duties and investment.
• We acted for the Government of Mexico during the NAFTA negotiations, advising on all aspects of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and domestic Canadian law.
• We played a significant role on behalf of one of the parties during the negotiation of Canada's Agreement on Internal Trade.
• We have advised numerous government, state enterprises, regulatory bodies and private industry clients in several significant trade disputes under many international trade agreements, including: several disputes under the GATT and WTO; disputes under Chapters Eighteen and Nineteen of the FTA and Chapters Nineteen and Twenty of NAFTA; and every dispute that arose under the Canada-US Softwood Lumber Agreement. We have also had significant involvement in many of the investment disputes that have arisen to date under NAFTA Chapter Eleven.
• We have had significant experience before the CITT and the CCRA, representing clients in all manner of trade issues before these entities, including in anti-dumping and countervailing duty disputes, safeguard investigations, all manner of customs actions and appeals, and in government procurement disputes. In fact, one of our lawyers was retained by the US Department of State as an expert in government procurement in a NAFTA Chapter Eleven proceeding.
• We have significant experience in the operation and application of US trade laws, including customs, trade remedies, "Section 301", and economic sanctions (including those relating to Cuba).
• Beyond trade law, we have significant experience in advising both domestic and foreign governments on trade policy issues, including in the areas of extraterritoriality, trade remedies and government-to-government dispute settlement procedures.
• In recognition of our experience and expertise in the trade law area, two of our lawyers have been appointed to the NAFTA Chapter Nineteen Roster of dispute settlement panellists, one has been appointed to the NAFTA Chapter Eleven Roster, one is a member of the Federal Government's Experts Advisory Committee on NAFTA Chapter Eleven and one has been appointed to the Roster of Dispute Settlement Panellists under the Agreement on Internal Trade.