Frank Pan and Kerry Contini: Tricky terrain – Navigating US and Chinese trade controls

The mutual economic dependence between China and the West means obstacles to trade between them is of profound consequence to businesses of all types. But for the past few years, such obstacles have come to be part and parcel of US-Sino business, with Washington articulating concerns around, for example, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and alleged forced labour in Xinjiang through the imposition of sanctions and export controls, and Beijing threatening to exert its own pressures through the use of reciprocal legislation. While fully-fledged ‘decoupling’ appears not to be in sight, navigating the obstacles requires a steady – but responsive – hand on the figurative tiller.

In this session, lawyers Frank Pan and Kerry Contini set out the state of play of, amongst other key challenges for business:

• US export controls affecting China
• China’s countermeasures against sanctions
• China’s ‘reactivated’ technology control regime: what it means for technology companies
• The Biden Administration’s focus on human rights and what that means for global trade compliance programmes
• US supply chain policy: what companies trading with China and the US should know

This is a must-attend session for US and Chinese organisations whose trade demands an intimate understanding of these difficult issues, and also for all non-US/Chinese companies potentially affected.

About Frank: Frank Pan is Senior Counsel at FenXun Partners in Shanghai. He has more than 15 years of experience working in a broad range of trade actions, including advising clients on trade law compliance and export controls.

About Kerry: Kerry Contini is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s international trade practice in Washington, DC, advising companies on export controls, sanctions, and supply chain compliance.