Agenda
Virtual Workshop A
January 19, 2027 • 9:00 am–12:30 pm ET
Virtual Workshop B
January 21, 2027 • 9:00 am–12:30 pm ET
Day 1 — Main Conference
February 2, 2027
Registration and Continental Breakfast
Valerie Sorensen-ClarkPartnerGrunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLPFormer General Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of International Trade Litigation
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Colin HuntleyPartnerAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLPFormer Deputy Director, Civil Fraud Section
U.S. Department of Justice
The Finer Points of Handling Trade Investigations amid a Sweeping Customs Enforcement Overhaul: The “Strengthening Customs Enforcement” EO
Bradley OpfermannSenior Counsel, Trade CompliancePHINIA
Andrea PopaVice President, Global Trade ComplianceNetApp
Valerie Sorensen-ClarkPartnerGrunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLPFormer General Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of International Trade Litigation
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are overhauling the rules that govern importers of record (IORs) following the Executive Order “Strengthening Customs Enforcement,” issued June 2026. The result will be significant tightening of importer responsibilities. This session delves into the EO taking a comprehensive look at how importers are adapting their IOR practices.
- Stress-testing supply chains: Can third-country facilities produce the documentation CBP demands?
- Examining False Claims Act (FCA) risks: Identify and address whistleblower vulnerabilities, including competitors, former employees, brokers
- Evaluating whether voluntary self-disclosure is appropriate for any known violations
- Building a defensible compliance program: What regulators expect to see
- Determining the kinds of violations are triggering the most enforcement scrutiny
Extended Networking Break
USTR INTERVIEW
Trade Investigation and Litigation Trends: The USTR Perspective
CASE LAW ROUNDUP
The Current Trade Investigations and Litigation Landscape: Lessons Learned in Adapting to a New Normal of Preemptive Investigative Response
Anthony PachecoPartnerAdams, Duerk & Kamenstein LLP
Enbar ToledanoPartnerWiley Rein LLP
This session will examine recent case law, including what legal tools/tactics are coming into play, to determine where regulators are looking for violations and where to focus your compliance investigations.
- Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC $549.5 million DOJ settlement: The increasing role that whistleblowers and false claims/qui tam lawsuits are playing in tariff enforcement
- How product classification can be manipulated: Red flags
- Waaree Energies Ltd.: How a single country-of-origin misclassification can trigger steep consequences
- First Solar Inc.: Misrepresentation of material risks affecting business operations because of tariff policies
TARIFF REFUNDS TRENDS
Navigating the New Realities of Refund Preservation, Litigation Trends and the Viability of Consumer/B2B Class Actions Related to Imposed Tariffs
Shannon Fura LCBPartnerPage Fura P.C.
Molly McGinleyPartnerHonigman LLP
IEEPA tariff refunds have always been more than a customs exercise. They impact contract interpretation, consumer and commercial litigation risk, data limitations, customer relationships, and public perception — all at once. Through the study of current case examples, discover the new realities, trends and nuances of handling intensifying refund-related tariff investigations and related matters—and how practitioners are reassessing legal risk, litigation strategy and navigating the grey areas.
- Examining the latest strategies for preserving tariff refunds
- Ongoing Supreme Court refund-related litigation trends
- Managing audit exposure, penalties, and procedural risks during investigations
- Determining how tariff refunds are being shared for companies that have raised prices or passed on tariff surcharges to customers and related class action trends
- Trends in plaintiff’s principal claims
- Trends in threshold/contractual/procedural/merits defenses
- Potential for increased litigation among businesses across the supply chain
Networking Lunch
Chief Compliance Officer Roundtable: How Trade Investigation Protocols Have Changed amid a More Proactive Customs Compliance Response Dynamic
Ibie FalcusanSenior Vice President & Chief Compliance OfficerStandard Aero
Chief Compliance Officers and senior-level trade compliance officers are under the C-Suite’s increasingly focused trade operations microscope. Discover how senior-level trade leaders instructing corporate counsel, customs compliance teams and outside counsel are reassessing trade investigation efficiency.
Shama PatariVice President & Deputy General Counsel Global Trade RelationsLenovo
This session will explore the corporate customs compliance legal landmines that are keeping in-house counsel awake at night. Hear how corporate counsel is navigating a new normal for enforcement response as CBP and DOJ enforcement measures gain further momentum.
Networking Break
How the DOJ is Now Using Alternative Tools to Enforce the False Claims Act: Corporate and Legal Perspectives on Investigations into False Claims, Tariff Evasion and Duty Enforcement
Colin HuntleyPartnerAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLPFormer Deputy Director, Civil Fraud Section
U.S. Department of Justice
Mona PatelPartnerCovington & Burling LLP
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force is intensifying civil and criminal enforcement, including tariff evasion, False Claims Act violations and duty enforcement. During this session, gain critically important updates on new, high stakes risks that will inform your compliance decision-making.
- Examining the DOJ’s use of alternative enforcement tools on top of customs penalty procedures for the False Claims Act and potential for criminal penalties
- Analyzing the enhanced ability of CBP and plaintiff law firms to target and identify tariff underpayments
- Evaluating the increasing incentives for employees, competitors, and other potential relators to become whistleblowers
- Determining best practices for compliance program updates/improvements to ensure correct protocols are in place to mitigate the risk of violations
Robert M. Kossick LCBPrincipalOlsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz PC
This session focuses on global trade-related enforcement, including insights on the current DOJ’s Trade Fraud Task Force enforcement priorities and practices, learnings from recent enforcement cases, EU and UK enforcement policy reviews, Latin American customs-related investigation shifts, Middle East supply chain complexities and recommended best practices in dealing with current regulators.
- Comparing and contrasting the EU and UK enforcement policy reviews
- Spotlighting import trade-related principles and developments across the Middle East
- Examining customs compliance-related policies and practice trends across Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, including updates on MERCOSUR
Closing remarks from the conference Co-Chairs. Day One adjourns
Day 2 — Main Conference
February 3, 2027
Registration and Continental Breakfast
Valerie Sorensen-ClarkPartnerGrunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLPFormer General Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of International Trade Litigation
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Colin HuntleyPartnerAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLPFormer Deputy Director, Civil Fraud Section
U.S. Department of Justice
Geopolitics and Associated China Supply Chain Complexities: Examining Enforcement Risk with Supply Chains that Touch China
Aaron ApplebaumPartnerSidley Austin LLP
- Considerations for companies that import products manufactured in China and outside of China using Chinese-origin inputs/components
- Considerations for China-based companies that operate in the United States and rely on imported goods to support their U.S. operations
USMCA: Preparing for a Decade of More Uncertainty – the Importer Compliance and Enforcement Challenge
Peter QuinterShareholderGunster
During this session, speakers will discuss forward strategies for addressing newfound risks, trade dynamics and legal implications as the USMCA sits under a cloud of sustained uncertainty.
Networking Break
How Customs Compliance Practices Must Now Evolve under Section 301 Forced Labor and Manufacturing Overcapacity Investigations and Supply Chain Disruption
Lena HalasaGroup Counsel, Trade Compliance & QualityJohnson Controls
Shawn HarwoodTrade Investigations SpecialistSquire Patton Boggs
- Preparing for forced labor investigations and escalation protocols: Establish clear internal escalation pathways for forced-labor red flags, including when and how to trigger a privileged internal review
- USTR proposed 10%/12.5% country tariff rates and “textile mechanism”
- Available exclusions
- Assessing supply chain exposure: Identifying exposure across products, inputs, and business lines, including evaluating direct imports from affected jurisdictions
- Chinese-controlled third-party logistics networks investigations to identify firms or their parent companies who facilitate tariff evasion and customs fraud at industrial scale
- Evaluating contractual protections: Existing contractual arrangements should be reviewed to determine how tariff risk and cost increases are allocated
- Exposing tariff risk: Preparing for ongoing uncertainty around pricing strategies, margin management, and contractual performance
- Potential additional duties on specific categories of goods
Examining the Bottlenecks in Judicial Reviews and Investigative Timelines in Section 232 Investigation Trends and the 232/301 Tariff Interplay
James SimoesSenior Director, Customs and Regulatory LawDHL
- Dissecting investigation trends involving Section 232 tariffs
- Examining country-specific tariffs
- Analyzing the extent of discretion under Section 232 and limits of judicial review
- Defining “National Security”: Court and agency interpretations
- Exploring the interplay of Section 232 and Section 301
- Accounting for stacking, companies already managing Section 232 or existing Section 301 China tariffs should review the potential cumulative effect
- Focusing on timelines, evidentiary standards, and transparency in the Section 232 investigative process
- Understanding the extent of coordination and alignment among the agencies: BIS, USTR, CBP, and DoD
Networking Luncheon
Shelby AndersonSpecial CounselCovington & Burling LLPFormer Assistant Chief Counsel, Office of the Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement and Compliance,
U.S. Department of Commerce
Thomas BelinePartnerCassidy Levy Kent LLP
- Analyzing trends in penalties and duty rates and their broader implications
- Assessing whether evidentiary standards are evolving, including new methodologies in determining dumping margins and injury
- Examining key rulings reshaping the scope of agency discretion in AD/CVD cases
A.I. IN INVESTIGATIONS
15 Creating Investigation Efficiencies Across the Customs Value Chain Through AI Integration: Predicting Regulatory Risk, Improving Trade Facilitation and Structuring Streamlined Supply Chains
Narlu CastellanoGlobal Trade Senior Manager & Supplier CompliancePHINIA
- Determining how in-house teams using AI
- Examining when AI works well in investigations and where does it present risks
- Analyzing whether AI can realistically help firms investigate faster without increasing legal exposure
- CBP Ruling H350722: Is your AI provider licensed to conduct “customs business”?
- Who owns AI governance?
- Privilege risks when AI is involved
- Gauging safe deployment: procurement, bias and governance guardrails
- Calculating other risk management: privilege, confidentiality, and data leakage concerns
- Evaluating integrity of the evidence: AI driven fabrication such as deepfakes and detection gaps
Networking Break
Marissa CloutierNational Security Policy AdvisorK&L Gates LLPFormer Chief, ITAR Compliance and & Civil Enforcement Division
U.S. Department of State
Joseph MoyerSenior Counsel, Investigations and DisclosuresBoeing Company
Christina ZanetteGeneral Counsel, Trade ComplianceSolstice Advanced Materials
- Determining who needs what information and when
- Maintaining confidentiality while conducting comprehensive investigations
- Writing a regulator-friendly disclosure
- Examining remedial measures, root cause determinations, and creating effective and achievable corrective actions
Defending Trade Positions: Refining Your Investigation Strategy Considering Recent Litigation Outcomes
- Examining how recent investigations, disputes, and litigation are reshaping trade defense strategies
- Weighing voluntary disclosures against aggressive defense to balance cooperation credit and litigation risk
- Coordinating defense strategies across borders when facing multi-jurisdictional investigations and litigation
- Revisiting settlement strategies in today’s intensifying landscape of regulatory and enforcement risk