Dan Harris is a founding member of Harris Bricken, an international law firm where he mostly represents companies doing business in emerging market countries. Most of his time is spent helping American and European companies navigate foreign countries by working with the international lawyers at his firm in setting up companies overseas (WFOEs, Subsidiaries, Rep Offices and Joint Ventures), drafting international contracts, protecting IP, and overseeing M&A transactions.
In addition, Dan writes and speaks extensively on international law, with a focus on protecting foreign businesses in their overseas operations. He is also a prolific and widely-followed blogger, writing as the co-author of the award-winning China Law Blog.
It was revealed today that China raided a large and well-known American company earlier this week, seizing five of its staff and shutting down its operations in China. This is a big deal and I thought it important I write about it as soon as possible. 1. Factual Background on the Raid My facts regarding
You have a great product that you want to be made in a foreign country about which you know little. What do you do? Do you use a sourcing agent and if you do, how should you pay that agent and what should you have it do? Perhaps most importantly, how should your various contacts
The other day I cleaned up and revised the various email templates our China lawyers sometimes use to answer frequently asked questions sent to us by our clients and potential clients. One of the common questions we get from clients is on how to send to the Chinese side of a deal the contracts our
In China, the United States and the New Normal, I called the US-China trade war the “New Normal” and I predicted a “diminished future for foreign companies” manufacturing in China. I also said that since “the inception of the US-China trade war we have been saying that we do not see its end because we
Last year, I asked my good friend Andrew Hupert of North American Strategic Planning to explain what is involved in moving manufacturing from China to Mexico. I chose Andrew for this because he has spent so much time in both China and Mexico, navigating their manufacturing systems from the inside. My law firm frequently consulted with
In 2014-2015, China Plus One was all the rage, and everyone (including us) was talking about the risks of companies putting all their eggs in one “China basket.” It was determined a China Plus One strategy was the way to counter those risks. This strategy involved companies having some/most of their products made in China,
Last year, I asked my good friend Andrew Hupert of North American Strategic Planning to explain what is involved in moving manufacturing from China to Mexico. I chose Andrew for this because he has spent so much time in both China and Mexico, navigating their manufacturing systems from the inside. My law firm frequently consulted with
Way back in 2010, I wrote Ten Reasons Chinese Companies Fail In The U.S. for Forbes Magazine. My top ten list in that article was as follows: 1. Chinese companies focus on a Chinese consumer, not an American one. 2. Chinese companies fail to realize how one reputation-damaging mistake in the United States can doom
Last year, in Three Things Everyone Leaving China for Mexico Should Know, we talked about how when analyzing US-China relations, the “only politics worth watching are in Washington DC”: The politicians that matter to you are the ones writing, interpreting, executing, and judging United States trade laws. Don’t waste time and energy trying to read
You have almost certainly heard by now that there is a massive Chinese spy balloon currently hovering over U.S. airspace in violation of international and U.S. law. Or if you actually believe the CCP, it is merely a weather balloon that went very far off course. 1. China’s Spy Balloon Will Worsen China’s Relations with
