illegal transshipping

Transshipment: No Magic Remedy Against Tariffs

A few days ago, in China Manufacturing: “Elvis Has Left the Building”, we mentioned a South China Morning Post article suggesting the manufacturing exodus from China will not abate, regardless of any patches trade negotiators manage to place on the overall, strained U.S.-China relationship. That article included some sobering stats on the giant sucking sound we

Illegal transshipping false claims act

Illegal Transshipping/False Country of Origin — Help Us Help You Get Rich

Earlier this year, “Univar USA Inc. paid  U.S. $62.5 Million to Resolve Allegations that it Evaded $36 Million in Antidumping Duties on Imported Chinese Saccharin.”  My law firm profited handsomely from this case because we brought it to the government’s attention and then assisted on it. The United States Department of Justice describes this case

China company due diligence

China Employment Contracts: It’s Not Too Late to Check Yours

If you have employees in China, you must have a written employment contract with each and every one of your employees. Employing anyone (Chinese citizen or expat) in China without a current, enforceable, China-centric employment contract puts you at massive risk for financial penalties and worse. Late last month, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and

Flag of the California Republic

New California Data Privacy Law Will Affect Businesses Across the Globe

This isn’t the first time I’ve written on the China Law Blog about the California Consumer Privacy Act (or “CCPA”), California’s massive new privacy law that many compare to EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (or “GDPR”), but it’s certainly becoming more important now as CCPA takes effect in about six weeks. If you weren’t taking CCPA seriously

Walking the China tightrope

How To Survive an Increasingly Difficult China

Since October 6, 2018, one of our recurring themes has been that China has become far more difficult for foreign companies. It is what we have been calling the New Normal. This New Normal extends to all foreign companies that do business in or with China, but it has hit U.S. and Canadian companies particularly

Animated worm screaming at bird with the early worm gets the bird written

How to Avoid China Tariffs: Make an Exclusion Request and Fast

The seemingly endless U.S.-China trade war keeps slogging along. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has already imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports on three previous lists (List 1 = $34 billion starting from July 2018, List 2 = $16 billion from August 2018, List 3 = $200 billion from

China Greater Bay area map/graphic

China’s Greater Bay Area and Country of Origin Markings

In a recent LinkedIn conversation someone raised the possibility of the “Made in GBA (Greater Bay Area)” label replacing “Made in Hong Kong” and “Made in China” as a country of origin marking in South China. It’s an intriguing idea that would certainly reflect the spirit of the GBA project. Could “Made in GBA” actually be a

International letters of credit

Good Contracts are Key, Corruption be Damned

Got an email the other day from a good-sized company the other day asking about the benefit of having manufacturing contracts with companies in countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The email went something like this (I say “something” because I’ve changed it so nobody will ever be able to identify it): I am

China Company Audit Lawyers

China’s New Company Tracking System: Comply, Comply, Comply

Foreign companies doing business in China are abuzz with news and rumors regarding China’s plans to set up what will essentially be a social credit system for companies that do business in China. In China is building a ‘comprehensive system’ for tracking companies’ activities, CNBC does a great job explaining what this new system will