Christopher John Cochlin

Chris Cochlin advises businesses and governments on a wide range of international trade matters, including antidumping and countervailing duty litigation, trade policy and trade negotiations, bilateral investment, and market access strategies to challenge or defend foreign and domestic government measures. He also advises Canadian and international companies in the defense, energy, materials, high technology, and communications sectors extensively on customs compliance and on compliance with Canada’s export controls, economic sanctions and the controlled goods (defense contracting) regime.

Mr. Cochlin represents a wide variety of North American manufacturers in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, including North American steel producers and other North American and multinational manufacturers of industrial, commercial, and agricultural products. Mr. Cochlin also advises a wide variety of North American and other multinational businesses and Canadian and foreign governments on trade policy, trade negotiations, and bilateral investment matters. Finally, Mr. Cochlin regularly advises a variety of businesses in the energy sector, high technology, financial institutions and other sectors on compliance with Canadian export controls and economic sanctions, and defense-related trade controls including representation before the responsible Canadian government agencies.

Mr. Cochlin served as international trade counsel for nearly a decade in the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, where he provided strategic advice to government officials on trade and investment treaty and policy issues. Mr. Cochlin has briefed and argued numerous trade disputes at the WTO and under the NAFTA, including before WTO panels and the Appellate Body (e.g. softwood lumber, dairy products, upland cotton, regional aircraft), and has appeared before numerous other ad hoc trade tribunals. He also served as lead counsel in FTA negotiations, and as a Trade Policy analyst at the Government of Canada’s Department of Finance developing policy and negotiating positions on antidumping and countervailing duty rules for the WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations.