Philip S. Gallas

Partner | Corporate

About

Mr. Gallas has worked as a regulator with U.S. Customs and Department of Commerce, as an attorney at private customs and trade boutiques, with practice groups at national law firms as well as in the trade and customs practice of a Big 4 accounting firm. His day-to-day practice utilizes his extensive administrative regulatory experience, with a focus on import, export, and international trade compliance.

  • He has counseled domestic & foreign manufacturers & exporters, foreign governments, global retailers, U.S. importers & trade associations on a range of products including cybersecurity hardware and software, electronics, automobiles, aircraft, steel products, ball bearings, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, diagnostic reagents, medical devices, softwood lumber and various wood products, solar cells and modules, textiles, apparel, footwear, home furnishings, consumer products, and personal care products. He brings experience gained in the Antidumping Compliance Division of the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce and in the Classification and Valuation Division of the Office of Regulations & Rulings at U.S. Customs in Washington, D.C. He has represented clients before the Department of Commerce, International Trade Commission, Customs & Border Protection, Department of State, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Congress.

    Mr. Gallas has extensive experience in proceedings brought under the antidumping & countervailing duty laws and other trade remedy laws including Section 232 National Security proceedings (e.g., steel and aluminum tariffs and exclusion requests), Section 201 Global Safeguard proceedings (e.g., solar cells and modules), and Section 301 Unfair Trade Practice proceedings (e.g., China 301 tariffs and exclusion requests). He has advised importers on matters of customs law including classification, value, first sale, country of origin, marking, trade preference programs, foreign trade zones, penalties mitigation and enforcement issues, customs audits, and global supply chain. Mr. Gallas also has counseled manufacturers of both military and commercial goods and technology regarding export controls, and assisted them with licensing matters before Commerce Bureau of Industry & Security, State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, and Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the District of Columbia Bar. He is fluent in French.

Practices

  • International Trade

  • Government and Government Affairs

Admissions

  • District of Columbia

Education

  • American University Washington College of Law, JD, 1978

  • Washington University in St. Louis, B.A. in English Literature & French, 1975

  • University of Strasbourg, France, Study Abroad

Awards and Honors

  • 2nd Annual International Trade Law Society Distinguished Alumni Award, American University Washington College of Law (2008)

  • Law360 International Trade Editorial Advisory Board (2017-2015, 2011-2010)

Law Firm Experience

  • FisherBroyles, LLP

  • Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (now Dentons)

  • KPMG

Corporate Experience

As an international practitioner in law firm Corporate departments and in the International Corporate Services department of a Big Four accounting firm, Mr. Gallas conducted import and export due diligence in numerous Merger & Acquisition deals.

Representative Transactions

  • Argued to Pacific Northwest Customs & Border Protection (CBP) port that a client’s goods were not subject to AD duties, resulting in return of several hundred thousand dollars of additional duties previously collected and abandonment of an initial claim for a million dollars in additional duties.

  • Obtained ruling from CBP National Commodity Specialist Division that electronic components separately imported and assembled in the U.S. were substantially transformed into a new article exempting the foreign components from individual country of origin marking requirements.

  • Counseled a U.S.-based global company on relaxation of Treasury Department (OFAC) sanctions on Cuba to permit licensing of building products to be exported from U.S. for Cuban development project.

Presentations and Teaching Experience

  • “Antidumping & Countervailing Duty,” Van Andel Global Trade Center, July 2018

  • “Section 232 Tariffs,” District of Columbia Bar, International Law Community, June 2018

  • “Customs Value and Related Party Pricing,” Women in International Trade – Northern California, March 2013

  • “What Every Lawyer Should Know About International Business Law: Introduction to U.S. Trade Remedies,” Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, January 2010

  • “90 Days Until Destruction: How to Release an FDA Hold,” Thompson Interactive Webinar, January 2009

Publications