About the Practice
In today's global marketplace, goods and services are crossing borders at an ever-increasing rate. With every cross-border transaction, complex government regulations are triggered which require careful attention. Smith Gambrell & Russell offers a wide array of expertise in the area of customs and international trade to address the regulatory aspects of exporting and importing.
With executives keenly focused on the need to integrate supply chain and operations management into key business decisions, customs and international trade matters have risen to the forefront of C-suite concerns. Once viewed as purely "logistics" issues, regulations governing the import and export of merchandise, as well as the provision of services and intellectual property across borders, can no longer be approached in a vacuum. Serious consequences await the unprepared, ranging from draconian penalties, seizure of imported goods, and denial of export privileges altogether.
SGR addresses these issues in the context of broader business decision-making and utilizes the strengths one would expect from a full-service international firm to address clients' needs. From deciding which jurisdiction offers the best mix of direct ("below the line") and indirect ("above the line") tax benefits for locating a new business operation, to designing in-house trade compliance processes and procedures, to determining how a company's global transfer pricing policy impacts its declared customs values, we offer a comprehensive approach to strategic planning and to solving business problems when goods and services "go global."
In addition, with governments around the world ramping up their audit and enforcement activities, SGR is uniquely qualified to represent clients in these kinds of proceedings, including penalty cases. Through our global affiliation with TerraLex and many other professional alliances, we can provide representation in every major trading jurisdiction when performing audits or negotiating with Customs or other authorities, or when litigating matters at the applicable judicial tribunal(s) such as the U.S. Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
