Providing the full range of business and legal solutions to clients facing challenges related to national security and international trade

Navigating Washington

Navigating national security and international trade requirements can be mission critical for businesses engaged in cross-border transactions, whether exporting, importing, investing or just choosing suppliers. It is especially challenging for companies that don’t have the in-house expertise to analyze how investment and trade controls, tariffs and trade wars will affect their bottom lines.

We can help.

Navigating Washington is a regulatory affairs consultancy based in Washington DC providing legal and government relations advisory services to clients facing challenges related to national security and international trade. Our principals spent decades doing this work for the US Government and a global law firm, and now help clients navigate through the people, process and politics that shape national security and international trade policy in Washington in a results-oriented, cost-effective way through tailored and customized solutions.

We help clients understand and navigate the investing, importing and exporting requirements that have an impact on their businesses. We guide clients through CFIUS national security reviews; represent them in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings; advise them on export controls, sanctions, supply chains and customs issues; and, keep them current on regulatory changes. We design compliance programs, represent clients at government audits, negotiate national security agreements and advise clients on how to structure transactions in a way that maximizes the benefits of ownership while ensuring full compliance.

We do all this through a new, innovative and value-driven model for advisory services based on decades in private practice at Big Law and designed to manage cost without compromising quality.

Who We Are

In national security, our principals have decades of experience representing clients in national security reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency and other US government bodies, as well as in export controls, sanctions and compliance matters.

In trade, our principals have been involved in every major international trade issue for decades, either as high-ranking public officials or representing private industry as lawyers and government-relations professionals. We have written and implemented trade regulations; negotiated bilateral and multilateral trade agreements: opened markets across the globe; and, represented clients in antidumping and Customs matters.

Strategic Partnerships

We complement our capabilities through strategic partnerships with consultants that have specialized skills, on an as-needed basis:

National Security Insights

The profile of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has been raised significantly in recent years. Congress has overhauled and extended the reach of CFIUS twice in a little more than a decade and Treasury has implemented new regulations, putting a microscope on foreign investment in certain sectors of the US economy. A new program to review outbound investment in certain industry sectors in certain countries is in the works. In recent years US export control laws have been refocused to protect emerging and foundational technologies and to keep them out of the hands of certain countries, particularly China. What is next? See our latest update on how these national security regulatory regimes interact.

International Trade Insights

Given the high stakes of more than $7 trillion in US international trade annually, the US Government has broad authority to regulate international trade transactions through powers that are enshrined in the US Constitution; delineated in federal statutes and regulations; administered by the President and a wide range of US Government agencies; and, subjected to judicial review. Given the range and complexity of the legal processes involved, it is critical for US and foreign companies engaged in international trade to understand importing and exporting requirements and the impact that governmental policies can have on their businesses. See our latest update on what you need to know.

Areas of Focus

We regularly advise, speak, write, teach and comment on a host of current issues and conduct seminars, briefing sessions and CLE courses on many of these topics for our clients.

    • CFIUS

    • Sanctions

    • Export Controls

    • National Industrial Security Requirements

    • Customs

    • Trade Remedies (including AD/CVD)

    • Import Safeguard Restrictions and Unfair Trade Practices (including Section 201 and 301 actions)

    • Import Adjustments Related to National Security Concerns (Section 232)

    • Tariff Exclusions (under Section 232 and 301 actions)

    • Multilateral Trade Agreements (including USMCA and the WTO)

    • Supply Chain Requirements for Information and Communications Technology and Services

    • For Universities – How Licensing Requirements and Limitations on Foreign Access Impact the Development of US Technology

    • Political and National Security Ramifications

    • US Sanctions

    • Multilateral Sanctions

    • US Legislation Limiting MFN Status

    • Investment Restrictions

    • Export Restrictions

    • Supply Chain Developments

    • Supply and Pricing of Natural Gas

    • Food Crisis

    • Ramifications of CFIUS and Other National Security Reviews

    • Pending Restrictions on Certain Outbound Investment

    • Nexus with Telecom and Information System Supply Chain Requirements

    • Current Trends

    • Sector Focus: Technology, Data Protection, US Manufacturing

    • China Trade and National Security Restrictions

    • US Commerce Department ICTS Regulations

    • Pending Restrictions on Outbound Investment

    • Impact of New Trade Controls, Investment Restrictions and Focus on Key Industries

    • Barriers to Investing in or Exporting to China

    • Biden Administration’s China Policies

    • US House of Representatives Proposed Tik Tok Ban

    • Biden Administration’s Indo Pacific Strategy

    • Trump Promises Even Higher China Tariffs

    • Securing the US Supply Chain

    • Supply Chain Resiliency — New Requirements

    • US Policy on Information and Communication Technology and Services

    • Legal and Financial Pitfalls for US Companies

    • Executive Orders on Supply Chains and National Security

    • Critical Technologies, Minerals and Manufacturing Industries

    • Green Supply Chain Agreements

    • Continuing Fallout from the Covid Pandemic

    • Trade, Technology and National Security

    • China Tech and Semiconductors

    • Is the CHIPS Act Enough?

    • The Future of US Bilateral and Multilateral Trade Agreements

    • Is There a Middle-Ground Approach to Trade?

    • The Impact of the Steel Tariffs on US Economy and Next Steps

    • The Politics of Trade

    • Biden’s Approach on Trade

    • Are Supply Chain Problems Driving Production Back to the United States?