Navigating Tariffs, Customs Litigation, and North American Trade Compliance: Protecting Importers and Cross-Border Businesses

Leslie Alan Glick, Director | Fennemore

Leslie Alan Glick is a Director at Fennemore in Washington, D.C., where his practice centers on international trade and customs law. He represents clients before the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Over many years he has handled complex tariff matters for exporters, importers, and retailers, including securing exclusions from Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs for many companies during the first Trump administration. Under the current administration, he has been widely consulted for his tariff mitigation strategies and appears frequently before trade associations.

• Education & Credentials

Les earned his J.D. at Cornell Law School, where he was an editor of the Cornell International Law Journal, sat on the Moot Court board, and took part in the Legal Aid Society. He completed his B.A. at Cornell University. He is admitted to practice in New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and he speaks conversational Spanish.

• Recognition & Leadership

Les holds several leadership posts across the bar’s international trade community. Within the American Bar Association, he chairs the Customs Committee, the Mexico Committee, and the International Law Committee, and he serves as Co-Chair of the International Law Section. He also chairs the International Law Section of the Federal Bar Association.

• Professional Involvement

Les has written books on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the agreement that replaced it, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). His recent engagements include a panel on “International Ag Trade Update: Tariffs, IEEPA, Refunds, & Related Issues” for the National Agricultural Law Center in April 2026, an Aftermarket News interview on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs, and a July 2026 Fennemore Blog article on new U.S. tariffs replacing the expiring Section 122 tariffs. He also co-presented on what Malaysian agribusinesses need to know about doing business in the United States. Earlier, as a member of the Food and Drug Law Institute, he sat on its Dietary Supplements Committee and wrote several articles for its UPDATE publication.

• Experience

Les handles antidumping and countervailing duty cases, investigations under Sections 232 and 337, and tariff and trade due diligence in mergers and acquisitions. He has particular depth in manufacturing in Mexico, including maquiladora arrangements in which U.S. companies ship raw materials to Mexican plants for assembly and manufacturing under special tariff provisions of U.S. and Mexican law. For one of the largest dietary supplement importers in the United States, he obtained the reclassification of a product as a vitamin, producing multimillion-dollar customs duty savings. His regulatory work spans import and compliance matters before the FDA, USDA, FTC, and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, including beer and wine imports from Italy and sake from Japan, along with consumer product safety and automotive compliance and recalls under NHTSA and the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. He previously worked as an attorney for a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives and maintains an active lobbying practice in Washington, D.C., where he has been a registered lobbyist for many years.

SESSION 1 – Tariff Mitigation, Customs Compliance, and Importer Refund Recovery | Leslie Alan Glick | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session examines Section 232 and Section 301 duties, tariff classification, country-of-origin determinations, customs valuation, and tariff exclusions. Using IEEPA refunds as the example, it covers liquidation, refund claim ownership, protest requirements, procedural errors, and ACH enrollment.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – North American Trade Compliance, Customs Litigation, and Cross-Border Business Risks | Leslie Alan Glick | 3:40pm – 4:10pm

This session covers importer claims before the U.S. Court of International Trade under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(a) and § 1581(i), USMCA qualification and rules of origin, cross-border manufacturing and supply chains, and tariff due diligence in mergers and acquisitions.