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Melvin Schwechter is the national leader of BakerHostetler’s International Trade—Compliance Practice.

Mr. Schwechter represents clients before the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of State, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. International Trade Commission on import and export-related matters. These include audits, investigations, penalty proceedings, export licensing of military and “dual use” products and technology, Technical Assistance and Manufacturing License Agreements, trade sanctions and embargoes, prior and voluntary self-disclosures of violations, ruling requests and Commodity Jurisdiction determinations, NAFTA and other free trade agreements, foreign trade zones, the classification and valuation of merchandise, marking and country of origin issues, drawback and other duty savings mechanisms, unfair trade practice proceedings and related administrative actions. His clients include multinational manufacturers, distributors and financial institutions.

Mr. Schwechter also appears before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in judicial appeals of administrative determinations concerning such matters. He conducts import/export compliance self-assessments for clients, helps them establish compliance and recordkeeping programs and provides import/export training. Together with the firm’s White Collar Defense group, Mr. Schwechter also represents clients on FCPA, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering matters.

Previously, Mr. Schwechter served as the U.S. Department of Commerce staff attorney responsible for that Department’s export control program.

Representative Matters

• Represented clients in numerous customs, export control and trade sanction/embargo audits, investigations, penalty proceedings, and prior and voluntary self-disclosures;
• Performed more than 125 import/export compliance self-assessments for clients in a wide variety of industries;
• Served as Co-Chair of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee overseeing more than $1 billion in refunds of harbor maintenance taxes paid on exports by several thousand companies, which were found by the U.S. Supreme Court to be unconstitutional;
• Successfully petitioned the Foreign Trade Zones Board to allow the creation of a special purpose subzone allowing the client to realize millions of dollars in duty savings;
• Represented clients in more than 40 antidumping, countervailing duty and other international trade proceedings involving a wide variety of products, and succeeded in an action, on behalf of an exporter of Russian titanium sponge, in revoking an antidumping duty order that had been in effect for 30 years.
• Successfully represented a variety of companies before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in connection with national security reviews of foreign acquisitions of U.S. businesses.

Publications

• Co-author: “Buyer Beware! US laws hinder foreign investors,” Jane’s Defense Weekly (May 28, 2008)
• Co-author: “Clean up-the act,” Global Reinsurance (April 2006)
• Author: “U.S. Customs Reinforces Compliance Standards,” The National Law Journal (December 4, 1995)
• Co-author: “Harbor Fights May Put Cash into Exporters’ Pockets,” Pittsburgh Business Times (January 16, 1995)
• Columnist: “Business Law Brief,” London Financial Times (1984 to 1989)
• Co-author: “The Effects of United States Antitrust Laws on the International Operations of American Firms,” Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business 492 (1979)

Other Activities

• Trustee and Vice President: The Historical Society of the U.S. Court of International Trade
• Past President: Customs and International Trade Bar Association, Current Chair: Export Committee
• Previous Co-chair: Export Compliance and Facilitation Committee, American Association of Exporters and Importers
• Previous eligible panelist: North America Free Trade Agreement, Chapter 19 Dispute Resolution
• Adjunct Professor: International Trade and Customs Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 1983-1999