Patrick McLain is a seasoned international trade lawyer who focuses on high-stakes trade disputes and trade policy issues arising in the United States and other jurisdictions. Mr. McLain has played a leading role in a broad range of US trade remedy and tariff matters before the US Department of Commerce, US International Trade Commission, Office of the US Trade Representative, and federal courts. He also has extensive experience in World Trade Organization dispute resolution litigation and market access counseling. Mr. McLain’s representations have involved the following industries, among others: aerospace, automobile, fertilizer, information technology, mattress, oil country tubular goods, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl alcohol, refrigerant, softwood lumber, solar energy, telecommunications, tire, and furniture.

With respect to domestic trade remedies and tariff actions, Mr. McLain has represented US manufacturers and respondents in US antidumping and countervailing duty original investigations, administrative reviews, sunset reviews, and scope and anti-circumvention inquiries. He has also handled litigation and exclusion request matters in Section 201 global safeguard, Section 301, and Section 232 proceedings. Recent representations include successfully petitioning Commerce and the ITC for countervailing duties on Phosphate Fertilizer from Morocco and Russia; securing renewal of trade remedy orders in Commerce and ITC sunset reviews of Polyethylene Terephthalate from India and Taiwan, Polyethylene Terephthalate from China and the UAE, and Polyvinyl Alcohol from China and Japan; and obtaining a negative determination in a highly-contested Commerce anti-circumvention inquiry under the Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from China antidumping order concerning imported components. 

In the area of WTO dispute resolution, Mr. McLain has deep experience with a broad spectrum of litigation efforts, from devising case strategy through the litigation of original, compliance, and level-of-countermeasures disputes and related appeals. He has been involved in litigating several landmark cases, including EC and certain member States – Large Civil Aircraft (DS316); US – Large Civil Aircraft (2nd complaint) (DS353); US – Tax Incentives for Large Civil Aircraft (DS487); and Brazil – Certain Measures Concerning Taxation and Charges (DS472, 497). These disputes involved successful challenges to foreign country trade practices that restricted billions of dollars of international trade per year, as well as successful defenses of US trade practices. Mr. McLain has also advised clients on the feasibility of potential future WTO disputes, and on the consistency of existing and proposed measures with WTO rules.

Mr. McLain frequently advises clients on the public policy and communications aspects of trade matters and has helped them develop policy initiatives and communications strategies, as well as engage with government, industry, and public stakeholders. 

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. McLain clerked for the Hon. Jane A. Restani, then the Chief Judge of the United States Court of International Trade. In addition to serving the chief judge on a variety of trade remedies and customs cases before the Court of International Trade, he supported her work as a visiting judge with the US Courts of Appeals for the First, Third, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, as well as the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Professional Activities

From 2007 to 2010, Mr. McLain was Chair of the International Trade Law Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association.