68 | LEXPERT • June 2019 | www.lexpert.ca/usguide
For lawyers working in international
trade law – not to mention their clients –
it's a strange new world indeed.
"We've been working forever in an at-
mosphere of liberal trade, and we've nev-
er seen anything like the current climate
before," says Louis Amato-Gauci in Mill-
er omson LLP's Toronto office. "at's
what makes the practice so challenging."
At first, caution was the buzzword
when advising clients.
"When Trump came to power and all
this began, and even as the NAFTA ne-
gotiations made their way through fits
and start, we were advising clients not to
radically revise their supply chain because
it was costly to do so and it might not be
necessary in the long run," Amato-Gauci
says. "Now we're not so sure."
As it turns out, some clients don't even
have that option.
"Not all of our clients are able to look at
new markets or seek out alternative sourc-
Trade's
New Realities
IF IT FEELS LIKE THE TARIFF
AND TRADE RULES ARE
CHANGING EVERY DAY,
IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE
BY JULIUS MELNITZER
Trade
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
