International business increasingly sits at the intersection of trade regulation, national security, geopolitics and rapidly changing technology. We help businesses, financial institutions and governments navigate these rules, manage cross-border risk and pursue international opportunities.
Our specialist international trade team advises on all aspects of cross-border business, from entering new markets and planning supply chains to customs, sanctions and export-control compliance, regulatory investigations and disputes. We combine technical expertise with practical commercial advice and strategic government engagement.
How we can help
- Sanctions and export controls: Strategic goods and dual-use classifications, defence trade controls, export licensing, sanctions exemptions, end-user due diligence, screening, technology transfers, compliance programmes, voluntary disclosures and enforcement.
- Customs, tariffs and trade remedies: Tariff classification, customs valuation, origin, import and export requirements, US and other tariff measures, customs disputes, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard investigations.
- Market access and product regulation: Help navigating the rules for bringing products, technologies and services to market, including licences, approvals, product standards, labelling and ongoing compliance.
- Strategic and responsible supply chains: Geopolitical and supply-chain risk, contractual protections, forced-labour and modern slavery risk, ethical sourcing and emerging responsible-trade requirements.
- Trade agreements, investment and government engagement: Free trade agreements, WTO rules, market-access and investment barriers, treaty interpretation, trade policy, regulatory reform and government engagement.
- Investigations and disputes: Internal investigations, voluntary disclosures, regulatory and Police investigations and enforcement, judicial review and litigation.
A specialist practice for complex cross-border matters
We advise on day-to-day compliance through to strategically significant transactions, market-entry projects, investigations and disputes. Our experience includes advising financial institutions, global technology businesses, exporters and manufacturers, aerospace and defence businesses, logistics providers, industry bodies and New Zealand and overseas government agencies.
We have particular experience where international trade regulation intersects with technology and national security, including aerospace and autonomous systems, defence-related technologies, telecommunications and satellites, advanced manufacturing, software and cryptography. Where matters span jurisdictions, we coordinate with overseas counsel and international law firms.
Recognised international trade expertise
Our lawyers are recognised for Trade Law by The Best Lawyers™ in New Zealand, and our Public Law team is ranked Band 1 in Chambers Asia-Pacific. Practice head Sarah Salmond was named Asia Pacific International Trade Lawyer of the Year at the Women in Business Law Awards 2023 and Best Lawyers’ 2026 Lawyer of the Year for Public Law in Auckland, and is recognised as a New Zealand export-controls specialist by World Export Controls Review.
She also holds board roles with the New Zealand International Business Forum and the American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand.
Selected experience
Sanctions and export controls
- Representing Westpac New Zealand Limited in Targa Capital Limited v Westpac New Zealand Limited [2023] NZHC 230, successfully opposing an application for an injunction requiring the bank to continue providing banking services in the face of sanctions-related concerns.
- Advising banks, traders and investment managers on sanctions compliance, customer onboarding and exit decisions, screening, trade finance and cross-border investment activities.
- Advising aerospace and advanced-technology businesses on strategic goods and dual-use controls, export licensing, compliance frameworks and the interaction between New Zealand and overseas trade controls.
Customs and tariffs
- Successfully assisting the New Zealand subsidiary of a multinational technology company to challenge a New Zealand Customs penalty, securing a 75% reduction.
- Advising multinational businesses on New Zealand customs matters, including tariff classification, customs valuation, transfer-pricing adjustments, import documentation, temporary imports, Customs audits, seizures, penalties and disputes.
Market entry and product regulation
- Advising global technology, aviation, telecommunications and satellite businesses on New Zealand customs, product regulation, licensing and market-access requirements.
Trade remedies
- Advising the New Zealand meat industry on China’s safeguard investigation into imported beef, including preparing a formal submission addressing WTO rules, injury and causation, product scope and protections under the New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement.
- Assisting Lamb Weston and Lamb Weston Meijer to secure termination of New Zealand’s dumping investigation into frozen potato fries and wedges from Belgium and the Netherlands.
- Assisting Roof Tile Group to secure the temporary suspension of anti-dumping duties on aluminium-zinc coated steel from the Republic of Korea.
Trade agreements and government engagement
- Advising the United Kingdom Department for International Trade, now the Department for Business and Trade, on the UK–New Zealand free trade agreement negotiations and the UK’s accession negotiations for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both mandates followed competitive tender processes.
Talk to our team about entering a new market, managing international trade risk or responding to a regulatory issue.
