Jeff Grimson

Practice Areas

International trade; trade remedies; Customs; trade litigation

Career

Jeffrey S. Grimson has more than thirty years of experience advising industries in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and resulting appeals to the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. In multiple industries, he has achieved groundbreaking rulings for his clients. Mr. Grimson combines a deep experience in the minutiae of trade disputes with an understanding of the overarching legal and policy considerations that can help clients obtain successful results before government agencies or federal courts.

Based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Grimson has represented a wide range of importers and U.S. and foreign producers in disputes involving a host of steel, aluminum, wood and agricultural products, in addition to a range of consumer products such as mattresses, alcoholic beverages and high-tech solar products and other electronics produced in Mexico, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Turkey and other countries. A believer that understanding the client and the client’s product is key to developing successful legal strategies, Mr. Grimson is as at home in an aluminum smelter or logging site deep in a forest as he is in the courtroom.

He was lead counsel in defense of U.S. importers and kitchen cabinet producers in a case on hardwood plywood from China with imports estimated at $1 Billion per year that were a critical input to the $9 Billion U.S. kitchen cabinet industry. After high import duties were imposed by the Commerce Department, Mr. Grimson achieved a favorable unanimous final verdict by the U.S. International Trade Commission – a decisive victory that terminated the case against his clients and their tens of thousands of American workers.

Mr. Grimson has been involved in many of the largest trade disputes in that last three decades involving solar products, aluminum extrusions, softwood lumber, steel, sugar, China “Section 301” duties and national security proceedings under Section 232.

Mr. Grimson represented the plaintiff in the lead case challenging the expansion of Section 232 duties to “derivative” steel articles, raising both statutory and constitutional claims. He was lead counsel on behalf of an agricultural amicus curiae party on challenges raising constitutional claims that reached the Supreme Court. His past trade appeals include other constitutional challenges, with an increasing emphasis on separation of powers concerns raised by import measures imposed by former President Trump. Other constitutional challenges to trade measures invoked first amendment claims and claims centered on "Auer" deference.

Mr. Grimson and his Mowry & Grimson team obtained the first-ever administrative reversal of an affirmative finding of circumvention by U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the Enforce and Protect Act.

Mr. Grimson counsels companies in planning for potential threatened unfair trade cases with the objective of improving the likelihood of a successful result and gaining a competitive advantage in the event a case is filed. After an antidumping or countervailing duty order is in place, he assists companies in designing restructuring strategies to maximize refunds of duty deposits made on past entries.

In addition to unfair trade proceedings, Mr. Grimson has counseled U.S. and foreign companies on compliance with due diligence obligations relating to U.S. trade laws regarding initial public offerings as well as mergers and acquisitions. He has also advised U.S. retailers and importers on environmental compliance issues affecting international trade, particularly the Lacey Act.

Mr. Grimson has also counseled companies on other matters relating to the import and export of goods, including compliance and enforcement activities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") as well as other agencies including USDA and EPA. Of particular focus is advising clients on compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA") and how it is enforced by CBP.

Mr. Grimson has achieved successful results in customs audits, protests, and prior disclosures related to imports. He has helped companies comply with the complicated rules applicable to brick-and-mortar and web-based exporting. He has also advised companies involved in civil lawsuits related to marking of imported goods under the Lanham Act.

Mr. Grimson is a frequent speaker on a variety of international trade issues and has advised numerous major U.S. trade associations on matters relating to trade regulation.

Education