Arim “AJ” Kim is admitted to practice in Florida. She is not currently admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. She is supervised by a member of the D.C. Bar.
AJ Kim is an associate and a member of the International Trade, Investment Controls, and National Security practice group. Her practice focuses on international trade laws and regulations—customs, export controls, foreign direct investments, national security, and trade remedies—over various industries and sectors, such as chemicals, consumer products, defense, machineries, manufacturing, metals, and technology.
As a former attorney at the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), AJ counsels and defends clients on a wide range of customs compliance, enforcement, and investigation matters before CBP. In addition, she has experience in advising and representing clients in matters relating to: antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) petitions before the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC); export controls under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR); and mandatory declarations and voluntary notices before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Her experience in the customs and import regulatory matters includes the following:
- Analyzing customs classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), country of origin, and valuation of various merchandise.
- Assessing administrative and legal mechanisms to acquire refunds of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duties.
- Determining the preferential duty treatments under various trade agreements and programs, including the US-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), and the eligibility for duty exclusions, such as Section 232 and Section 301 duties.
- Examining forced labor-related risk exposure and compliance with CBP withhold release orders, CBP findings, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
- Obtaining favorable CBP rulings and filing ruling requests concerning various customs matters.
- Filing prior disclosures for violations of customs laws and regulations.
- Responding to CBP enforcement notices, such as Requests for Information (CBP Form 28) and Notices of Action (CBP Form 29).
- Mitigating CBP’s claims of liquidated damages and submitting petitions for relief.
- Conducting compliance audits and risk assessments, and providing client training on customs laws, regulations, and compliance best practices.
Prior to joining the firm, AJ served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings Directorate at the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She advised CBP and other US Government agencies, and drafted binding administrative decisions and rulings, concerning country of origin, entry, free trade agreements and preference programs, liquidation, tariff classification, trade remedies and exclusions, and other customs compliance matters.
