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Dan Cannistra is a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. His practice focuses on legislative, executive and regulatory representation of domestic and international clients on a broad spectrum of international trade matters. Dan has represented domestic and foreign companies in over 75 U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty cases before the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission under the Tariff Act of 1930. Many of these matters involved appeals to the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, binational panels under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and dispute settlement proceedings before the World Trade Organization (WTO). Dan has also represented clients in antidumping proceedings in the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Thailand, Singapore, Guatemala and Taiwan.

Prior to joining Crowell & Moring, Dan was a director in a national accounting firm providing customs and international trade guidance to multinational clients related to the supply and distribution of goods and services across international borders. Areas of specialization included antidumping and countervailing duties and policy, trade remedies and litigation, free trade agreements and negotiations, classification and valuation, and international trade and development.

Dan's government appointments include service to U.S. Trade Representative on the roster of international trade practitioners to resolve antidumping disputes involving NAFTA members. For the European Commission, Dan provided advice and training on international trade and antidumping methodology and practice. In addition, Dan has served as an international trade consultant to the governments of Guatemala and Singapore, providing technical advice to these governments on the application of international trade regulations consistent with international law and World Trade Organization agreements and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Agreement on Antidumping.

 

 

On March 6, 2025, following discussions with the heads of major U.S. automakers, the White House announced a one-month suspension of the IEEPA tariffs on Mexico and Canada for certain USMCA-originating automotive sector products. The White House subsequently expanded that temporary suspension to all products from Canada and Mexico that satisfy USMCA’s “origination” requirements. Products

On February 21, 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced its proposed actions following the Section 301 investigation of China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance.

The Section 301 investigation was initiated on April 17, 2024. Following the investigation, USTR determined that China’s targeting of the maritime

On February 10, 2025, President Trump signed a new Proclamation abolishing as of March 12, 2025 the quota system for the EU and imposing 25% tariffs on all steel products imported into the U.S.. This effectively puts the end to current agreement between the U.S. and the EU which kept the tariffs on steel and

On February 10, 2025, the White House released an executive order (“EO” or “Order”) titled “Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States”  that reinstates a 25% tariff on imports of steel and steel derivative products into the United States.  The administration has also previewed a parallel executive order on aluminum and aluminum derivative product

On his first day in office, President Trump rolled out a sprawling set of directives to the heads of numerous government agencies charged with shaping U.S. trade policy.  While stopping short of enacting new tariffs, the Presidential Memorandum defining an “America First Trade Policy” lays the investigative groundwork for potentially sweeping changes to tariffs and

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 delegates to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) authority to investigate and respond to unfair foreign trade practices that could harm domestic interests. Under Section 301, USTR can act against foreign countries that violate U.S. trade agreements or engage in acts that are “unjustifiable”

Introduction

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 serves as a critical U.S. trade policy tool designed to safeguard national security by regulating imports. The provision grants the President the authority to impose tariffs or other trade restrictions on imports that threaten national security. The underlying rationale is that certain imports could undermine

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) opened its exclusion request process on October 15, 2024, allowing for importers to request temporary exclusion from Section 301 tariffs on certain Chinese machinery and equipment. The purpose of this exclusion process is to encourage US manufacturing by permitting machinery to be imported duty-free.  This process