Elliot J. Feldman

Partner

Washington, D.C.
T +1.202.861.1679
F +1.202.861.1783

"[Elliot] is incredibly smart, very focused and analytic."

— Chambers Global 2022

Overview

Elliot J. Feldman’s international practice concentrates on all forms of trade disputes and remedies affecting the movement of goods and services across international borders. He advises foreign governments, corporations and organizations on trade policy and international law, and litigates international trade, legal and investor-state disputes in all relevant forums, inside and outside the U.S., on both commercial international law and treaty interpretation. He has been a frequent legal adviser to the Government of Canada in World Trade Organization (WTO) cases and he has particular experience with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the new Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Elliot founded and is the former director of the University Consortium for Research on North America at Harvard University.

Elliot has been ranked in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business since 2007, has been counsel to and has litigated on behalf of the People’s Republic of China and is frequently quoted in the foreign press on international trade with China. He has been the only outside counsel in the history of the International Boundary Commission. Elliot authored Inside the Minds: International Trade Law Best Practices in 2006, and his treatise for Aspen Publishers co-authored with a team of 33 BakerHostetler attorneys under his direction, Mergers & Acquisitions in the United States: A Practical Guide for Non-U.S. Buyers, was first published in 2010, with a Chinese-language edition published in 2011 and subsequently updated. Elliot has lectured on the firm’s mergers and acquisitions inbound foreign direct investment capability in Brazil, China, India, Japan and Washington, D.C. He is the author or co-author of seven books and in 2013 he coauthored the lead article on international trade and nonmarket economies in the American University Law Review. His client advice on the Softwood Lumber Agreement has been selected by the librarian of the Canadian House of Commons as a historic document.

Select Experience

  • Uncoated Groundwood Paper From Canada: As lead counsel for Canadian federal and provincial governments and five companies, obtained a unanimous 5-0 International Trade Commission negative final determination terminating duties on newsprint, thereby rescuing the newspaper industry across the United States from an accelerated demise. Honored as Law 360 “MVP” in 2018 for this singular international trade victory.
  • Softwood Lumber From Canada: In the largest trade dispute in the world, concerning softwood lumber exports from Canada to the United States, obtained a precedent-setting legal victory invalidating application of the Byrd Amendment and denying the U.S. softwood lumber industry access to $5.5 billion, thereby leading to a negotiated settlement in the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement. Testified five times as an expert witness before the Standing Committee on International Trade of the Canadian House of Commons on the Softwood Lumber dispute (including the creation of a White House slush fund being facilitated by the Government of Canada), on the future of NAFTA and its dispute resolution system, and on technical details of legislation pending before the House of Commons. Won a unique exclusion order from a NAFTA panel for the Ontario industry.
More »

Experience

  • Uncoated Groundwood Paper From Canada: As lead counsel for Canadian federal and provincial governments and five companies, obtained a unanimous 5-0 International Trade Commission negative final determination terminating duties on newsprint, thereby rescuing the newspaper industry across the United States from an accelerated demise. Honored as Law 360 “MVP” in 2018 for this singular international trade victory.
  • Softwood Lumber From Canada: In the largest trade dispute in the world, concerning softwood lumber exports from Canada to the United States, obtained a precedent-setting legal victory invalidating application of the Byrd Amendment and denying the U.S. softwood lumber industry access to $5.5 billion, thereby leading to a negotiated settlement in the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement. Testified five times as an expert witness before the Standing Committee on International Trade of the Canadian House of Commons on the Softwood Lumber dispute (including the creation of a White House slush fund being facilitated by the Government of Canada), on the future of NAFTA and its dispute resolution system, and on technical details of legislation pending before the House of Commons. Won a unique exclusion order from a NAFTA panel for the Ontario industry.
  • Québec And NAFTA: American legal counsel defending the Québec government's trading interests in the United States and elsewhere for the critical first decade of the Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Intensely tested the legal apparatus of the agreement, and subsequently NAFTA, when Québec's industrial and social policies were the main target of U.S. complaints. Prevailed for Québec and private Québec interests in trade disputes concerning fresh, chilled and frozen pork; live swine; apples; alfalfa; beer; softwood lumber; UHT milk; hydroelectric power and steel wire rod; among others. Participated as a member of Québec's international trade negotiating team and developed systems to coordinate interests of the Québec government with the premier's office and government ministries. Advised the Québec government on sovereignty and international agreements.
  • WTO: Served as outside counsel to the Canadian government in WTO antidumping, countervailing duty and injury disputes over softwood lumber, developing the legal case that defeated the American use of "zeroing" in antidumping investigations.
  • International Organizations: Served as the only outside U.S. counsel to the International Boundary Commission in more than a century in a dispute with the President of the United States over the application of an international treaty regarding land use in Washington state.
  • Safeguards: Restored the use of safeguards to U.S. international trade practice on behalf of an Australian client and its U.S. subsidiary against imports of wheat gluten from Europe. Obtained three presidential proclamations restricting European imports.
  • International Arbitration: Provides ongoing representations of Canadian and U.S. corporations under NAFTA Chapter 11 state-investor disputes.
  • Media and Press Relations: Manages and coordinates press messaging in Canada and the United States. Provides occasional representation in Congress, including having drafted legislation creating an inspector general for Export-Import Bank, and appears before Executive Branch agencies, such as representation before 11 departments in a safeguards case.
  • China: Served as lead counsel before the International Trade Commission in successful defenses of imports of manganese sulfate and disposable pocket lighters.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Chambers Global: International Trade: Trade Remedies & Trade Policy (USA) (2007 to 2023)
    • Band 5 (2020 to 2022), Band 4 (2007 to 2019)
  • Chambers USA: Nationwide International Trade: Trade Remedies & Trade Policy (2006 to 2022)
    • Band 5 (2019 to 2023), Band 4 (2010 to 2018) & (2006), Band 3 (2008 to 2009)

  • Law360 International Trade MVP (2018)
  • Law360 Practice Group of the Year (2018)
  • The Legal 500 United States (2015 to 2016, 2019 to 2022)
    • Recommended in Dispute Resolution: International Trade
  • International Who's Who of Professionals
  • Marquis Who's Who in American Law
  • Madison’s Who's Who
  • Washington, D.C. "Super Lawyer" (2013)
  • Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent (30 years)

Memberships

  • International Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • Massachusetts Bar Association
  • National Economists Club
  • National Press Club

Community

  • Chinese American Museum, District of Columbia: Advisory Board
  • President of the United States: Consulting Speech Writer, Foreign Policy and Defense
  • Canadian-American Business Council: Director
  • The University of Chicago, Beijing and Paris: Distinguished Alumni Lecturer
  • Arena Stage: Board of Trustees
  • The University of Chicago: Visiting Committee, The College
  • Arena Stage Production of The Originalist: Legal Consultant (2015)
  • Post-performance speaker for The Originalist, New York and Chicago (2018)

Prior Positions

  • Woodrow Wilson Foundation; Danforth Foundation; German Marshall Fund of the United States; Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Harvard University Center for International Affairs; Harvard University Center for European Studies: Fellow
  • Harvard University
    • Center for International Affairs: Executive Committee Member
    • University Consortium for Research on North America: Founder and Director
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Council on Foreign Relations: International Affairs Fellow
    • United States Department of Defense: Special Project Officer and Consultant
  • Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies; The University of British Columbia Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration; Brandeis University; Tufts University: Assistant And Associate Professor

Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1995
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, 1991
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, 1994
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1991
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2007
  • U.S. Court of International Trade, 1991
  • Massachusetts, 1988
  • District of Columbia, 1989

Education

  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1988, cum laude
  • Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1972, with Distinction
  • B.A., University of Chicago, 1969, General Honors and Special Honors