Our international manufacturing lawyers have been working with a ton of companies that are looking to pull their manufacturing from China and move it elsewhere, to places like Mexico, Colombia, India, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. One of the first questions we ask when providing legal counsel regarding such moves is who owns the IP related to
Paying lawyers can seem expensive, even if they are only mediocre lawyers. But good lawyers can often save you money because they can save you from your own mistakes. They do that by having both the experience and gravitas to teach you from others’ mistakes. I wrote in a previous post about the PPE nightmare
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
I have recently been helping a company source and develop a new product in China. This post contains the questions that have arisen during that process, along with my answers. 1. What is the right way to think about China sourcing now? A. Use Supply and Demand to Your Benefit The future will be rough,
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
Lawyers love to jab at each other, especially when we are friends and operate in different jurisdictions or different practice areas. Recently a litigator friend said to me, “Don’t transactional lawyers just cut and paste? It looks really easy.” I replied, “Don’t litigators just argue about pointless things?” This willful misreading of each other’s skills
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
