With increased globalization and a variety of products in the marketplace, more reps are finding it advantageous to represent foreign manufacturers and directly import products. Once into it, an agent may believe that the product is misclassified at a higher import duty than it should be; its product is incorrectly covered under an antidumping order; or that a country of origin dispute exists. After attempts to resolve the issue with the appropriate governmental agencies have failed, an agent may believe that litigation is an appropriate choice in achieving a remedy; however, the litigation process can seem overwhelming, and then there’s the question concerning in which court one should file an action.

The U.S. Court of International Trade, located in New York City, is the court of exclusive jurisdiction for international trade matters. For the agent, this court offers a number of advantages:

• There are no juries.
• One need not be concerned about individual biases against your type of business or the country from which you import.
• You don’t have to educate and convince anyone that being a manufacturers’ agent is a legitimate occupation. This also reduces costs in avoiding lengthy trials. Instead, cases are heard by one judge (sometimes three judges, depending upon the nature of the action).
• The assigned judge works exclusively for the U.S. Court of International Trade and does nothing but hear international trade cases.
• The judge is familiar with the terms used and regulations involved and has had experience in reviewing and evaluating a wide number of international trade issues. This is in marked contrast to a trial in another court where a judge hears everything from criminal drug cases to real estate disputes.

The rules of the U.S. Court of International Trade are the same everywhere. It does not matter if you are located in Topeka, Kansas, or Beijing, China. Other federal courts have different procedures depending upon their particular circuit; and an attorney familiar with the rules in one circuit would need to review the ones in another before filing. Also, depending upon the case, the U.S. District Courts require an amount in controversy to be more than $75,000 before even being eligible to file. Not so with the U.S. Court of International Trade. It is the nature of the controversy itself and not the dollar amount that can get you in there.

The rules of procedure in the U.S. Court of International Trade generally follow those of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence. However, the litigation process itself is usually more streamlined, faster and simpler than in other courts. The U.S. Court of International Trade has full authority to grant the necessary relief.

So, if you find that you are unable to resolve your trade issue, you do have another avenue available that can offer a fair forum at a relatively quicker pace than in a more general court.