ABOUT THE FIRM
Sharretts, Paley, Carter & Blauvelt, P.C. ("SPC&B") has for more than 60 years been one of the preeminent firms dedicated to the exclusive practice of Customs and international trade law on a global level. SPC&B's many years of practice in this discrete area of law affords it the ability to provide our clients with the personalized and focused service of a small-sized firm while offering the advantages and expertise of a top national law firm.
SPC&B represents a wide variety of clients, from Fortune 500 corporations to family-owned businesses located throughout the world. Our clients engage in the manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of merchandise in virtually every product sector, including foodstuffs, chemicals, petroleum, textiles and apparel, toys, jewelry, steel, consumer electronics, automobiles, footwear, machinery, construction equipment, art and antiques, and railroad cars. The firm also represents trade associations and foreign governments.
Our attorneys are all experts in matters flowing from U.S. and international Customs laws and regulations impacting the business of commercial trade, including classification, valuation, admissibility, audits, seizures, detentions, penalties, labeling, country of origin, C-TPAT and transfer pricing. SPC&B routinely represents clients' interests in matters before U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the World Customs Organization, the World Trade Organization, and Customs offices in Europe, Asia, Mexico and Canada.
SPC&B's practice includes extensive involvement in all aspects of trade cases, successfully representing foreign exporters and manufacturers and importers in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings as well as 337, 201 and 301 actions before the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
The firm also has concentrated its practice heavily in other government agency regulatory matters, including the rules and regulations of the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Fish & Wildlife Service, Department of Agriculture, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Bureau of Industry and Security, State Department, Department of Defense and other agencies regulating international commerce.
While SPC&B stresses "preventive" law, and proactively works with its clients to create systems, internal controls and compliance programs that allow companies to minimize duties and avoid problems upon importation or exportation, it is also always fully prepared to challenge adverse determinations by Customs, the courts, or other agencies regulating international trade.
In this regard, SPC&B believes that Customs and international trade matters warrant the same type of planning as other financial matters, as careful attention to such matters can avoid unanticipated duty expenses and generate significant duty savings. The firm is committed to assisting its clients with such planning on a global level and prides itself on its successful representation of its clients' interests in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.
To better assist with this process, and to service its clients in North American cross-border trade, SPC&B has formed a professional relationship with Sánchez DeVanny Esseverri, S.C. of Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. Sánchez DeVanny has a full service practice in all areas of Mexican and Latin American business law, including international trade.
