Counsel to Counsel - September 2008 - (Page 12) global perspectives ©iStockphoto.com/Lev Mel How to Navigate today’s Hidden trade barriers By Steven Andersen Act GlobAlly: “t he Fortune 200 companies in the United States now find that most of their revenue is coming from foreign sales,” says Rob Portman, who served as the U.S. trade representative in the current administration and is now of counsel to Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P “This . demonstrates the growing importance of the global marketplace for large U.S. companies and their workers. And, increasingly, many small and mid-size companies are experiencing sales growth beyond our borders. This means U.S. companies need to be more sophisticated about foreign markets and international remedies.” In the old days, international trade was pretty simple: You manufactured products in country A and sold them in country B. If you encountered trade barriers, they were typically straight tariffs at the border. Things are a little more complex today. “Historically companies have been restricted in global markets by barriers that were fairly obvious,” says Shanker Singham, a partner at Squire Sanders whose practice focus is international trade. “Now they are adversely affected more by behind-the-border measures. These things are hard to identify and even harder to deal with.” In today’s world of competing global supply chains, market distortions and anticompetitive restrictions are both subtle and pervasive. To change them, companies have to push for a unified trade policy that takes into account the de facto barriers they encounter in markets around the world. “We need a trade policy that ensures that restrictions at the border aren’t replaced by restrictions inside the border,” Singham says. “Historically companies have been restricted in global markets by barriers that were fairly obvious. Now they are adversely affected more by behind-the-border measures. these things are hard to identify and even harder to deal with.” Behind the Border Hidden trade barriers occur all over the world, although they are most prevalent in countries that are transitioning from command economies, such as postcommunist states, or countries that are moving away from import substitution economics, as seen in much of Latin America and parts of Asia. These restrictions can take many forms. 12 LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell® http://www.iStockphoto.com/Lev
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