Eleventh Trade Law Fall Update: Trade and Customs Law and Enforcement in 2026 (Online, Free)

Case Western Reserve University School of Law (Cleveland, Ohio, USA) hosts the Eleventh Annual Trade Law Fall Update, officially titled Trade and Customs Law & Enforcement in the Remarkable Year 2026, a virtual programme on the need-to-know issues facing the trade and customs community in 2026, including new tariffs, tariff refunds and important policy developments. The programme is held online via Zoom and is free of charge.

The academic partners are the American Society of International Law, the Customs and International Trade Bar Association and the Greater Cleveland International Lawyers Group. The programme is funded by a grant from Grunfeld Desiderio Lebowitz Silverman & Klestadt LLP. The host is Professor Juscelino F. Colares of CWRU School of Law.

Friday, 9 October 2026, 8:15 AM to 12:20 PM US Eastern Time (about 5:45 PM to 9:50 PM IST). The Zoom connection opens at 8:00 AM Eastern; registrants receive the joining link in a pre-conference confirmation email.

• Panel I, Current Compliance Challenges for Global Supply Chains: the new Section 301 tariffs linked to forced-labour import bans, country-of-origin determinations, and scope and circumvention in trade law.
• Panel II, Tariff Litigation and Refunds: the state of play on IEEPA tariff refunds and refund litigation, finality in customs law, preserving refund rights, possible class actions, and challenges to the Section 122 surcharge and Section 301 forced-labour tariffs.
• Hot Topics in Trade and Customs Law: a rapid-round panel on the shift from facilitation to enforcement in customs, growth in trade remedy petitions, and Section 232 investigations.
• Keynote Roundtable: USMCA renewal and the future of North American automotive jobs, production and supply chains.

Welcome by Dean Paul Rose and introduction by Professor Juscelino F. Colares. Panel I is moderated by Lawrence M. Friedman (Barnes Richardson & Colburn) with Cynthia Galvez (Skadden), John Foote (Sidley Austin) and Luke Mathers (Sandler Travis & Rosenberg). Panel II is moderated by Amy Porges (Porges Trade Law) with Amy Magnus (A.N. Deringer), Michael Roll (Roll & Harris) and Valerie Sorensen-Clark (Grunfeld Desiderio). The Hot Topics panel is moderated by Zack Walker (Picard Kentz & Rowe) with Elizabeth J. Drake (Schagrin Associates) and Katherine A. Dobscha (Grunfeld Desiderio). The keynote roundtable features Leila Aridi Afas (Toyota North America) and Kristin Dziczek (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago). Closing remarks by the Hon. Leo M. Gordon, Judge, U.S. Court of International Trade.

The event is listed as public and is open online. It suits law students, researchers and practitioners interested in international trade law, customs law, WTO and tariff disputes and US trade policy.

Attendance is free. US Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit of 3.25 hours has been approved and is available for USD 50 for virtual attendees; this is optional and relevant only to lawyers who need US CLE credit.

Register through the official Zoom webinar registration link. The organiser gives no separate registration closing date, so register before the programme starts at 8:15 AM US Eastern Time (5:45 PM IST) on Friday 9 October 2026. The joining details are sent by email before the event. CLE reading materials and the latest agenda are linked from the official event page. For queries, the School of Law's published phone number is +1 216 368 8700, or use its Contact Us page.