Trade at the Border: Customs, Enforcement, and Emerging Challenges

Joshua Aikens is currently Head of Government Affairs at Zonos. He represents Zonos in conversations with federal agencies, legislators, trade associations, and international postal organizations on de minimis reform, customs modernization, and cross-border ecommerce regulation. His job is to make sure the people writing the rules understand how modern ecommerce actually works and that the companies building the technology have a seat at the table.

Blake guides clients through trade policy complexities, helping them anticipate challenges and seize opportunities in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

Previously, Blake spent more than five years as vice president for international trade at a large trade association, where she developed and executed the organization’s trade strategy and advocacy efforts. Before that, she served as Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, contributing to major legislative achievements and leading several bipartisan trade and customs bills. Earlier in her career, Blake spent a decade with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Chief Counsel, advising on legal and regulatory issues.

Blake brings a collaborative approach to solving complex trade challenges, grounded in policy knowledge and trusted relationships built over nearly two decades of public service and advocacy.

Blake holds a BA from Michigan State University and a JD from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Felicia Pullam is a global expert on trade, investment, value chain sustainability and social impact, with more than 20 years of experience working with international companies on these mission critical issues. She brings that experience to her role as Senior Director, Geo-Commerce in APCO’s Washington office, where she leads APCO’s Center for Trade, Investment and Market Access.

Prior to joining APCO, Felicia was the executive director of the Office of Trade Relations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is CBP’s primary point of contact for private sector and stakeholder engagement. As an advisor to the commissioner, Felicia worked on a wide range of trade challenges, including tariffs and trade remedies, forced labor, de minimis reform and illicit trade.

Felicia has worked on bipartisan trade and investment from both the state and federal perspective: she has served in the Office of Delaware Governor Jack Markell, as well as at the Maryland Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Commerce. During the Obama administration, Felicia helped steer SelectUSA, a presidential initiative housed within Commerce, through a high-pressure start-up phase to promote the United States as the leading global destination for foreign direct investment. Felicia was then appointed to be the deputy assistant secretary for textiles, consumer goods and materials, where she managed three offices to analyze and implement trade policy covering a large swath of the global economy.

Outside of government service, Felicia served as the director of strategy at the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Earlier in her career, she spent nearly a decade in China, leading the Asia regional corporate responsibility and sustainability practice for APCO, working closely with colleagues across greater China, India, and Southeast Asia. Felicia got her start as a Princeton in Asia Fellow, followed by a yearlong adventure as the tutor and translator for actress Zhang Ziyi. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University.

Sydney Mintzer helps clients to comply with US import regulations, optimize global sourcing options and eliminate barriers to market entry. Major US and foreign corporations turn to Sydney for his experience as a licensed customs broker in cases involving customs audits, focused assessments, enforcement matters and other proceedings before US Customs & Border Protection (CBP).

Clients leverage Sydney’s experience as one the first lawyers to represent clients in CBP forced labor investigations since Section 307 of the Tariff Act was amended in 2016, obtaining one of the first modifications to a withhold release order that allowed clients to import articles otherwise banned for importation into the US. In addition, Sydney works with clients to develop, implement and audit internal compliance programs and identify optimal sourcing patterns to minimize tariffs and duties.

Sydney represents clients in antidumping (AD) and anti-subsidy (CVD) investigations initiated in multiple jurisdictions. Both domestic industries and foreign producers, in addition to exporters and importers, turn to Sydney for representation in these investigations, which gives him an excellent understanding of the issues and factors surrounding these proceedings. Clients also seek out Sydney’s advice on customs-related aspects of AD/CVD orders, including on whether imported goods are subject to these orders, methods for obtaining exclusions to them, and representation in proceedings before CBP seeking to exclude merchandise that allegedly evades AD/CVD orders.

In addition to representing clients before the US Department of Commerce and US International Trade Commission in US investigations, Sydney represents US and European companies in AD/CVD investigations in the EU, China, India, Mexico and Brazil. Clients rely on Sydney’s legal assistance across a wide range of industries, including mining, ferroalloys, steel, chemicals, renewable energy, fertilizer and textiles/apparel.

Sydney also represents clients in a variety of tariff proceedings, including ongoing Section 301 investigations. Companies seek his counsel in the interagency process used to determine the scope of Section 301 duties, and Sydney provides guidance both on behalf of clients seeking protection from imports as well as those seeking an exclusion to the duty. For clients subject to Section 301 duties, Sydney advises on how changes in their supply chain could be made to support a change in origin based on standard US rules of origin. He also advises clients on the applicability of Section 232 duties imposed on imports of steel and aluminum as well as the related process for excluding imports from that duty regime.