INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
International Trade Law Articles
Customs classification, export controls, sanctions, and the compliance work that keeps cross-border business moving.
426 articles
Sanctions Policies & Procedures Checklist
A sanctions policy is the written record of how your business stays on the right side of OFAC — it names who is responsible, defines what gets screened, and …
Sanctions Record Keeping Checklist (10-Year Rule)
OFAC now requires you to keep sanctions-related records for 10 years, up from five — a change that took effect on March 12, 2025. Under 31 CFR 501.601, U.S. …
Sanctions Risk Assessment Checklist
A sanctions risk assessment is a structured review of where your business is most exposed to sanctions violations — by customer, product, and geography — so you …
Sanctions Risk Assessment: A Practical Guide
A sanctions risk assessment is the exercise of mapping where your business is most likely to touch a sanctioned party or country, so you can size your controls …
Sanctions Screening Checklist: Vet Every Party
Sanctions screening is the process of checking every customer, vendor, bank, and counterparty against U.S. government restricted-party lists before money or …
Sanctions Training Program Checklist
Sanctions training is the program that makes sure the employees who actually touch transactions can recognize a sanctions risk and know what to do about it. It …
Sanctions Vendor Risk Management Checklist
Your vendors are one of your largest sanctions blind spots, and a third party’s violation can become yours — so managing vendor risk means screening, …
Sanctions Violation Found? Steps to Take Now
If you discover a potential sanctions violation, stop the activity immediately, preserve every record, run a privileged internal investigation, and decide — …
Sanctions Violations and Reputational Risk
A sanctions violation costs a company twice — once in OFAC penalties, and again in the reputational damage that follows when the settlement becomes public. That …
Transaction Monitoring: An AML Compliance Checklist
Transaction monitoring is the ongoing review of customer transactions to detect and report activity that may signal money laundering, terrorist financing, …
Types of Sanctions and How They Affect Your Business
U.S. sanctions fall into three main types — comprehensive, list-based, and sectoral — and which ones reach your business depends on who you deal with, what you …
What Is OFAC and How It Affects Your Business
OFAC is the U.S. Treasury office that writes and enforces economic sanctions, and its rules apply to your business whether or not you trade internationally on …
Anti-Boycott Compliance: A Guide for Exporters
U.S. anti-boycott law prohibits American companies from cooperating with foreign boycotts the U.S. does not sanction — and, separately, requires them to report …
Anti-Dumping Duties: A Guide for Exporters
Anti-dumping duties are extra tariffs an importing country imposes on goods sold below fair value — so for a U.S. exporter the duty is charged by the foreign …
Benchmarking Your Sanctions Compliance Program
Benchmarking your sanctions compliance program means measuring your controls against an external standard — OFAC’s own framework and the practices of …
Blocked Assets and the SDN List: What to Do
If a transaction involves a Specially Designated National (SDN), you must freeze the property, report it to OFAC within 10 business days, and never release it …
Catch-All Controls: End-Use & End-User Rules
Catch-all controls require an export license based on who will receive your item and what they will do with it — regardless of how the item is classified, even …
Classifying Your Goods for Export: Schedule B & HTS
The United States does not impose tariffs on exports — the Constitution forbids it — so “exporting under a tariff classification” really means …
Commerce Control List (CCL): What It Is
The Commerce Control List (CCL) is the master catalog of dual-use items that the U.S. controls for export, maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security …
Container Security Initiative (CSI), Explained
The Container Security Initiative (CSI) is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that pushes cargo security overseas: CBP officers stationed at …
