Photo of Simeon Yerokun

imeon Yerokun is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade group and based in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. He advises clients on all areas of import regulatory compliance, trade remedies, and international trade litigation.

Simeon has extensive experience counseling companies in the areas of business and human rights law, including compliance with global anti-forced labor and human rights requirements. He regularly represents companies before U.S. government agencies on forced labor-related matters, including securing the release of goods detained and seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also offers deep experience assisting companies in mapping their supply chains, including linking imported products back to their raw materials using enterprise software and other inventory management audit tools. Simeon is highly accomplished in forced labor supply chain mapping and risk assessments, as well as verifying due diligence efforts with on-the-ground visits to client facilities, incorporating third-party intelligence and audit resources.

Simeon’s experience also covers a broad spectrum of trade and customs issues, including those related to import regulatory compliance matters such as valuation, classification, duty drawback, marking and labeling, entry procedures, and penalties; free trade agreements; antidumping and countervailing duty issues; trade litigation; intellectual property issues such as trademark and copyright infringement; the enforcement of exclusion orders issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC); steel and aluminum tariffs under the Section 232 National Security Investigation; and the additional tariffs on products from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Additionally, Simeon handles antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations before the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) under the Tariff Act of 1930, and litigation involving the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT).

Prior to joining Crowell, Simeon was a trade and finance attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and before that, he served as counsel to Commissioner Irving A. Williamson at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Simeon is a proud graduate of Howard University School of Law, where he served as technical editor of the school’s Human Rights and Globalization Law Review.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking concerning the de minimis exemption under 19 U.S.C. § 1321 (Section 321).  Currently, the de minimis exemption allows goods with an aggregate value under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free and via an expedited process.  The proposed amendment is intended to stem the

Global Trade Talks is a podcast that shares brief perspectives on key global issues on international trade, current events, business, law, and public policy as they impact our lives. In this session, hosts and International Trade Practice Leaders Nicole Simonian and Dj Wolff talk with Crowell lawyers David Stepp and Simeon Yerokun about Uyghur Forced

Following the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (“Chinese Select Committee”) request in January calling for a strengthened enforcement of the UFLPA, DHS adds 26 new entities to the UFLPA entity list.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced today the addition

Jan. 25, 2024—The United Kingdom (“UK”)-based Anti-Slavery International, in combination with the Investor Alliance for Human Rights and the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, has published a series of reports addressing the issue of forced labor in solar and electric vehicle supply chains relating to Uyghur and other Turkic ethnic

Main Idea: HTSUS Chapter 98, Subchapter 17, U.S. Note 4(b) exclusions are determined based on weighing all criteria. Although a product may meet the definition outlined in U.S. Note 4(a), they may fit the criteria outlined in U.S. Note 4(b) and therefore be excluded.

In ruling N330488 (Feb. 9, 2023), Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Main Idea: The regulations used to determine the country of origin of textile and apparel products require the sequential application of rules much like the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) in the HTSUS

In ruling N326416 (Feb. 2, 2023), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determined the country of origin of a prepared painting canvas.

Main Idea: A product’s essential character and primary function are key criteria to keep in mind in for both classification and country of origin determinations.

In ruling N330046 (Feb. 2, 2023), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determines the classification and the country of origin for a glass water bottle with an aluminum shell.  The

Congress failed to pass much needed and anticipated trade legislation last session. Issues the new House and Senate must face include: the extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance, the future of the Trade Promotion Authority, renewed Generalized System of Preferences, and a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.

The Future of the Trade Adjustment Assistance and Trade

Main Idea: Feeling positive about your country of origin determination? CBP’s decision on battery modules and packs confirms the importance of understanding the complexity of the substantial transformation rules.

In a decision impacting the electric vehicle, renewables, and other related industries, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discusses the country of origin of battery modules

Main Idea: CBP has long history of limiting classification of items as furniture in chapter 94, HTSUS, to articles used by humans.

A variety of factors impact a product’s classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).  However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has long demonstrated that the most important