International

As businesses expand globally, new opportunities and new legal obstacles appear everywhere. That is where Reinhart steps in. Whether it is helping a foreign business acquire a U.S. company or helping a U.S. business conduct operations overseas, Reinhart has the experience needed for today's global economy. Our attorneys, most of whom are located within a 90-minute drive of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, not only deal with legal issues around the world, they have the connections to help clients succeed abroad.

FOREIGN COMPANIES CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES

Reinhart has the expertise to help your business successfully compete in the United States. Four Reinhart attorneys have chaired the International Practice Section of the State Bar Association and a former shareholder served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. One shareholder recently completed a tenure as president of the Union Internationale des Avocats, or UIA International Association of Lawyers, which is the world's oldest international bar association and is headquartered in Paris, France. Another shareholder has chaired the Business Law Practice Section of LawAsia, an association of business attorneys that practice in Pacific rim countries. In addition to the issues briefly described below, Reinhart has published the guide Foreign Investment in the United States.

Direct Foreign Investment In the United States (Inbound Investment)

We advise on U.S. laws affecting foreign investment in U.S. businesses including tax, securities, environmental and disclosure laws and regulations; provide trade regulation and antitrust advice and represent clients before relevant U.S. state and federal regulatory bodies for necessary approvals, licenses and registrations.

Success Story:  Reinhart attorneys have partnered with a public Swiss company client to complete numerous successful acquisitions throughout the United States. Through our combined efforts, the client has been able to expand its global network of machinery and vehicle manufacturing facilities. The client has come to depend on a range of services offered by Reinhart including international tax structuring, supply chain management and the registration of U.S. and foreign intellectual property rights.

Customs and Import Regulations

We provide counsel on import classification and valuation issues, the Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Initiative and other special tariff opportunities such as Foreign Trade Zones, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement. We also advise on customs protests and appeals before the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Court of International Trade, and counsel on import remedies under U.S. antidumping, countervailing duty and unfair import practices laws.

Success Story:  Reinhart's International Practice recently assisted a large manufacturing client by successfully protesting the reclassification of duty rate imposed by U.S. Customs on imported components. The successful protest resulted in immediate savings to the client and an approximately $40,000 annual reduction in the import taxes paid by the client.

Direct Foreign Investment Outside the United States (Outbound Investment)

We negotiate and document international joint ventures, business acquisitions and dispositions; and provide advice on foreign registration, disclosure, currency and exchange control laws, as well as foreign investment incentive programs, such as tax holidays. We assist in establishing branch offices or subsidiaries in various countries, including China, where we assist in establishing representative offices and Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprises or WOFE, and negotiating and establishing equity and cooperative joint ventures.

Success Story:  Reinhart attorneys have recently worked with a U.S. manufacturing client and its Chinese supplier to form a Chinese joint venture, which will manufacture the client's products and coordinate distribution throughout the Asian market. The agreement was developed through the joint efforts of a cross section of Reinhart's International Practice including intellectual property, supply chain management, international tax planning and transfer pricing.

International Sales (Exports and Imports)

We prepare and review foreign distributor and sales agent agreements, international sales contracts and other export and import documentation; and provide counsel on the following U.S. laws impacting international trade and finance:  U.S. export restrictions and licensing requirements, anti-boycott laws, U.S. and foreign antitrust and competition laws, dispute resolution and choice of law contract provisions, international banking and finance (including payment procedures), foreign customs and import laws, export trading companies, foreign sales corporations and governmental assistance programs. We aid clients in setting up multinational distribution and agency networks, and assist with the monitoring of such distribution and agency networks, including the hiring and termination of foreign distributors and agents. Finally, we assist clients with taking advantage of tax benefits via the extraterritorial income exclusion and the formation of Interest Charge-Domestic International Sales Corporations (IC DISCs).

Success Story:  A client, an S corporation, exported approximately $10 million of U.S.-manufactured inventory. By organizing an IC-DISC, Reinhart was able to save the client approximately $100,000 in U.S. taxes. Further tax savings accrued when Reinhart identified sales to U.S. distributors who ultimately exported the inventory and sales to Canadian customers that were identified as domestic sales on the client's books and records.

International Tax Planning

We provide tax counsel that focuses on organizational structuring alternatives for both outbound investment and inbound investment. For U.S.-based multinationals, we help clients maximize foreign tax credits to eliminate double taxation and avoid U.S. taxation of foreign earnings to reduce the client's overall effective tax rate. For foreign-owned clients, we coordinate with the client's global tax minimization strategy, which often involves structuring to avoid the U.S. taxing jurisdiction and/or using repatriation techniques to minimize U.S. withholding taxes. We also counsel exporters with respect to tax-advantaged entities.

Success Story:  A client incurred an effective tax rate of over 60% on foreign operations due to the income being taxed in both the foreign country and the United States. Reinhart attorneys recommended different contractual terms, which increased the amount of foreign taxes the client could credit on its U.S. tax return. This increase in the amount of foreign tax credits decreased the overall effective tax rate to 40%.

Immigration Matters

We provide general counseling on U.S. visa requirements for foreign business personnel, and refer clients, when appropriate, to allied professionals for preparation and handling of visa applications to the U.S. Immigration Service. We also work with the EB-5 Visa Program.

Success Story:  Reinhart's Immigration team recently helped a global company implement a strategy to move inbound and outbound personnel using streamlined immigration processes and the assistance of Reinhart's Interlaw partner law firms. This will help the company move its personnel in a more timely, efficient and predictable manner.

Licensing and Intellectual Property Protection

We prepare and review licensing and other technology transfer agreements; provide advice and assistance in obtaining intellectual property (IP) rights abroad and in obtaining statutory or other U.S. protection for foreign IP; advise on U.S. and foreign technology transfer regulations and restrictions; assist in dealing with foreign registration and disclosure laws; and advise on the importation and exportation of goods involving IP rights. We also work closely through our global relationship network to enforce IP rights and challenge the IP rights of third parties globally, as well as to assist in their IP enforcement, clearance and protection needs domestically for foreign companies.

Success Story:  For years, Reinhart had nationalized European patent applications in the United States for a European company through its network. When the European company decided to expand its production facilities to the United States with a new product offering, Reinhart helped the client analyze third-party IP to attempt to minimize risk, as well as prepare and file numerous patent applications to cover the product offering launch.

Transfer Pricing

We help clients determine, document and plan for the arm's-length price with respect to transactions that cross international borders, which is the biggest tax issue facing multinational companies. We assist clients to develop defensible positions pursuant to the U.S. transfer pricing regulations and the guidelines promulgated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Implementing these positions often involves the drafting of documentation for penalty protection or negotiating with the tax authorities in pursuit of an advance pricing agreement.

Success Story:  A Nordic client manufactured industrial food-processing equipment that it sold to its U.S. subsidiary. The price charged from the Nordic parent to the U.S. subsidiary would impact whether income would be subject to tax at either a U.S. rate of 42% or the Nordic rate of 22%. Reinhart negotiated an advance pricing agreement (APA) with the IRS to minimize the amount of income the U.S. subsidiary had to report on its U.S. tax return to only 2.1% of sales.