Tariffs and Trade Disruption: Legal Strategy from Enforcement to Innovation

Molly O’Casey | Holland & Knight

Molly O’Casey is a trade attorney in Holland & Knight’s Washington, D.C., office. Ms. O’Casey focuses her practice on a broad range of transactional, litigation and regulatory compliance matters in the areas of U.S. customs laws, export controls, economic sanctions and embargoes, national security reviews and maritime.

Ms. O’Casey advises clients on a wide variety of import matters before the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with a particular focus on tariff mitigation. These matters include seizures, classification, valuation and country of origin, as well as preferential duty treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and free trade agreements (FTAs).

In addition, Ms. O’Casey counsels’ clients on U.S. export controls laws, such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), especially in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She has extensive experience with U.S. trade embargoes and economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of State.

Also, Ms. O’Casey counsels’ clients with government contracts and security clearances, especially in the defense space. This includes hosting Holland & Knight’s podcast on industrial security, “Are We All Clear? Facilitating Security Clearances.”

Ms. O’Casey is actively involved in Holland & Knight’s pro bono activities, through which she provides counseling to individuals on immigration matters.

Prior to Holland & Knight, Ms. O’Casey clerked at the U.S. Court of International Trade. Her previous experience also includes work at a boutique law firm and an international consulting firm, with an emphasis on customs issues and trade remedies. During law school, Ms. O’Casey was an associate editor for the Cornell International Law Journal.

Brandon Krajewski | Quarles & Brady LLP

Brandon helps clients navigate complex commercial disputes with an unwavering focus on practical, efficient and business-savvy solutions. He has helped clients win cases in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate level, as well as through arbitration and mediation. His experience includes work in several industries, such as: Manufacturers and suppliers, health care providers and a wide range of technologies, including industrial equipment, telecommunications, medical devices and software development

Brandon partners with clients to understand their business goals and objections and develops sophisticated strategies to drive resolution of complex disputes, with a focus on aligning legal strategy with business purposes and client service expectations. With a deep understanding of state, federal and arbitral proceedings, Brandon gets results while making sure clients can focus on their business.

Brandon is co-chair of the firm’s Government and Commercial Contracts subgroup.

Alden F. Abbott | Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Alden F. Abbott is Senior Research Fellow in the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. A widely published scholar and lecturer, he oversees the Center’s research on antitrust and competition policy. He also is the regular antitrust columnist for Forbes online and a Leader of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section. Prior to joining Mercatus, he served as General Counsel of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Abbott is a co-author (with Shanker Singham) of Trade, Competition, and Domestic Regulatory Policy (Routledge 2023), a unique study of the global interactions among antitrust, regulation, trade, and intellectual property laws. His current research focuses on artificial intelligence, innovation, and government-sponsored anticompetitive market distortions that undermine the global economy. He also is a member of the Growth Commission, a special research body that issues report on national economic policies that have slowed economic growth.

John Anwesen | Lighthill

John Anwesen is the Founding Shareholder of Lighthill. John is an advocate with a vision of a connected world. He has assisted many companies to remain competitive in the U.S. market, and even completely defeat import duties, through successful defense of their business. John strives to provide solutions for his clients by thinking outside the box and discovering those details that reframe the narrative of the bigger picture.

John advises on a variety of international trade matters, with a focus on antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) proceedings, other trade remedy proceedings, such as Sections 232 and 301 investigations and duties, customs matters, export controls, and sanctions. John also defends clients in U.S. agency investigations and related litigation and dispute resolution. His background includes leading AD and CVD cases while working for the U.S. government, as well as advising and defending clients from a wide range of industries in the private sector. With a nearly decade-long involvement in international trade matters, John has valuable insights and technical knowledge to provide the highest product and service quality for his clients.

Session I – Navigating Tariff Impacts and Risk Mitigation Strategies | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Scope of the reciprocal tariffs: Current status and exceptions
• Reciprocal tariffs and China (new)
• Tariff mitigation strategies
• Top 3 tariff mitigation mistakes companies make
• Enforcement actions: Increase in cooperation between customs and Department of Justice

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Managing Tariff Disputes through Contracts and Litigation Strategies | 2:10pm – 2:40pm

• Contract analysis for tariff issues
• Choice of law analysis in tariff disputes
• Active court cases involving tariffs
• Managing tariff disputes
• Injunction practice

Session III – Innovation vs. Distortion: An Integrated Approach to Trade, Antitrust, and IP Strategy | 2:40pm – 3:10pm

• Using tariffs to counteract anti-competitive market distortions (ACMDs)
• Empirical modeling of trade distortions and tariff calibration
• Strengthening US Patent law and IP protections as trade tools
• Aligning antitrust policy with innovation and trade strategy

Break | 3:10pm – 3:20pm

Session IV – Global Trade Defense: Legal Tactics for Surviving Intensified U.S. Tariff and Compliance Pressures | 3:20pm – 4:20pm

• Anticircumvention and evasion trends
  • Practical risks and defense strategies
  • Enforcement through customs and commerce coordination
• Customs enforcement and risk assessment
  • Common errors that lead to penalties
  • How companies can prepare for and respond to audits/investigations
• Section 232/301 litigation and lessons learned
  • Implications from recent challenges (e.g., HMTX Industries, V.O.S. Selections)
  • What legal precedents mean for clients in 2025 and beyond
• Forward-looking: How clients can strategically engage with agencies
  • Using public comments, tariff exclusion requests, or early compliance assessments as a protective tool