INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
International Trade Law Articles
Customs classification, export controls, sanctions, and the compliance work that keeps cross-border business moving.
426 articles
VAT Compliance Checklist for U.S. Exporters
Value Added Tax (VAT) is a consumption tax charged at each stage of the supply chain in more than 170 countries — and although the United States has no VAT, …
Voluntary Disclosure in Trade Compliance
A voluntary disclosure is a report you make to a trade enforcement agency about your own violation — before that agency finds it — in exchange for a …
Voluntary Export Restraints vs. Quotas
A voluntary export restraint (VER) is a cap that the exporting country agrees to place on its own shipments; a quota is a cap that the importing country imposes …
What Are Incoterms? Rules, Risk, and Legal Role
Incoterms are the 11 standardized trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that fix exactly where the seller’s responsibility …
What Is an ECCN? Export Classification Number
An Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) is the five-character code that the Bureau of Industry and Security uses to identify a controlled item on the …
Why Correct Export Classification Matters
Correct export classification matters because the code attached to a product decides what duties it pays abroad, whether it needs a U.S. license, and whether …
When Do You Need a US Export License?
You need a US export license when your item, its destination, the receiving party, or the end use is controlled — not because you are simply shipping abroad. …
Lacey Act: Import Rules for Plants and Wildlife
The Lacey Act is a U.S. law that makes it illegal to import, export, transport, sell, or possess any plant, fish, or wildlife that was taken, harvested, or …
Can I Import From or Export to Cuba?
Trade with Cuba is prohibited by default and allowed only by exception — the United States maintains a comprehensive embargo, and any import or export must fit …
How Nearshoring Reshaped U.S. Trade
Nearshoring — relocating production from distant suppliers to nearby countries like Mexico and Canada — has reshaped U.S. trade flows, with Mexico overtaking …
Can You Import Kratom Into the United States?
Kratom is not a federally controlled substance, and possessing it is legal in most U.S. states — but importing it for human consumption is, as a practical …
How to Import a Car to the United States: A Primer
Whether you can import a car to the United States comes down to three questions: how old it is, whether it conforms to U.S. safety and emissions standards, and …
What Is BIS? The Bureau of Industry and Security
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is the U.S. Department of Commerce agency that writes and enforces export controls on most commercial and …
Country of Origin Labels: Made in USA & COOL Rules
A country of origin label tells the buyer where a product was made — but which rule governs that label depends on what you are selling and what claim you are …
Red-Flagged Countries: Sanctions & Export Risk
“Red-flagged country” is not a formal legal term — it is shorthand for a jurisdiction subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions, where almost all …
Aviation Deemed Exports: What Counts and When
A deemed export happens when you release controlled technology to a foreign national inside the United States — and in aviation, that can be as simple as …
Aircraft Export Controls: Rules of the Sky
Exporting an aircraft or its parts is legal and common, but it runs through two control regimes — the EAR for civil aircraft and ITAR for military aircraft — …
Export Detentions: Why Your Shipment Got Held
When people say “export detention” they usually mean one of two very different cost drivers: a government compliance hold that stops your shipment …
What to Do When CBP Seizes Your Imported Goods
If U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seizes your imported goods, you generally have 30 days from the date on the seizure notice to respond — and the …
Deemed Exports: What US Companies Must Know
A deemed export is the release of controlled technology or source code to a foreign national inside the United States — and it is treated as an export to that …
