The Canada-US trading relationship is the largest and most integrated two-way trading relationship in the world. The bilateral relationship is also the gateway for companies “going global” as approximately 75% of first-time US exporters select Canada as their first point of contact, and the number is a bit larger for initial Canadian exporters entering the US. Attorney Dan Ujczo in Dickinson Wright’s Columbus office has been working with governments, businesses, and cross-border trade associations for more than 15 years to facilitate trade and investment between the two countries.
Dan is an international trade and customs lawyer who regularly assists businesses navigating the Canada-US market on issues such as border facilitation and customs, immigration, cross-border structuring, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, and investment incentives programs. Dan also provides public policy counsel to government officials and industry leaders on matters relating to trade initiatives, investment/siting decisions, transportation, energy infrastructure, public-private-partnerships, labor mobility, regulatory cooperation, and border security/management.
He began his career by working with his mentor, Henry King, who was a legendary figure as a former Nuremberg prosecutor and international business lawyer. “I had the itch for things international – I lived in Europe during the creation of the European Union and in Russia during the transition from communism,” says Dan. “Henry was my law professor and I was excited when he told me that we travel the world on various business and humanitarian ventures such as advocating for the creation of the International Criminal Court.” However, Henry was quick to advise that the most important pursuit that Dan would follow would be managing Henry’s Canada-US business and law association. “Are you sure about Canada?”, Dan enquired, “I’m interested in international matters.” Henry quickly retorted, “I’ve realized over the decades that Canada and the US have the world’s most important international relationship, and, Dan, soon you will too.”
Henry was right. For the next dozen years, Dan managed the Canada-U.S. Law Institute (CUSLI), an organization of cross-border corporate leaders, legal practitioners, scholars and the media operated by Case Western Reserve University School of Law and The University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law. Dan also served as an officer in the Canadian government where he was responsible for coordinating a network of government departments and Canada-US industry associations toward improving North America’s borders. Dan also served as a liaison between government officials in Canada and the US, as well as routinely assisted companies in dealings with Canada-US regulatory agencies.
After serving with the CUSLI and the Canadian government, Dan joined Dickinson Wright to focus on the firm’s extraordinary cross-border platform. With offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Toronto, as well as in the US southwest and Washington, D.C., Dickinson Wright is one of the only law firms with full-service offerings and “boots on the ground” on each side of the border. Dickinson Wright’s cross-border platform is geographically and substantively positioned to serve the heart of the world’s largest two-way trading relationship – namely the advanced manufacturing, energy, and transportation corridors between the US and Canada.
“One thing to remember about the U.S.-Canada trading relationship is that the size may change over time due to demographics around the globe but the one thing that won’t change is that 1/3 of the companies will be trading between themselves and another 1/3 of companies will be trading within integrated supply chains,” says Dan. “There’s nothing this inextricably intertwined in the world.”
The U.S. and Canada continue to enhance their relationship by developing programs and infrastructure that will increase trade and jobs for millions of people in both countries. Programs such as private-public partnerships (P3s) in infrastructure, the Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation Council launched by the President and Prime Minister in 2011, and a renewed focus on business immigration, will streamline the rules and regulations that will make it easier for companies to trade and set up operations across the border.
Dan and Dickinson Wright are at the forefront of the programs. To learn more about Dan and his practice, click here. To learn more about Dickinson Wright’s International Trade & Customs practice, click here.
