Our firm assists companies and individuals in their international operations and disputes, with recognised expertise in private international law, international sanctions and customs law.

Short answer. Between businesses established in the Union, the contract is governed by the law the parties chose and, failing a choice, by the law of the seller’s country for a sale of goods or the provider’s country for services (Regulation (EC) No 593/2008, Rome I, Articles 3 and 4). The competent court follows from the jurisdiction clause or, without one, may be the court of the place of performance (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, Brussels I bis, Articles 7 and 25), and a judgment given in one Member State is recognised and enforceable in the others without any prior procedure (Articles 36 and 39). An international sale of goods between contracting States is governed by the Vienna Convention of 11 April 1980 unless expressly excluded (Article 6). Arbitral awards circulate under the 1958 New York Convention; outside the Union, enforcing a judgment depends on a bilateral or multilateral convention or, failing one, on ordinary French exequatur.

Our Areas of Practice

Thanks to our network, we are able to support our clients worldwide, with a rigorous and tailored approach.

International trade law: securing companies’ cross-border operations

International trade law brings together the rules governing economic operations that cross the border of a single State: negotiating and drafting international contracts, determining the governing law and competent jurisdiction, complying with sanctions and export control regimes, protecting against the extraterritorial reach of foreign laws, foreign investment screening, and customs regulation. This field combines private international law, economic law and public law, and demands constant monitoring given how fast the applicable rules (European, national and foreign) evolve. The firm advises French and international companies on structuring their cross-border operations as well as managing disputes and compliance risk.

Negotiating and drafting international contracts

Incoterms and risk allocation in international sales

The choice of Incoterm applicable to an international sale of goods determines the point at which risk transfers between seller and buyer, the allocation of transport and insurance costs, and the customs formalities each party must handle. An Incoterm poorly suited to the nature of the goods, the mode of transport or the commercial relationship can generate costly disputes or expose one of the parties to risks it had not anticipated; the choice of Incoterm should be coordinated with the payment method used (documentary credit, documentary collection, bank guarantee) to secure the transaction.

For drafting, governing law and termination of a cross-border agreement, see our page on the international contract lawyer in France.

For the alignment of the Incoterm, the payment method and the transport documents, see our analysis Choosing the right Incoterm and the right payment method for export.

On the contract itself, see also our analysis International sale of goods: the six points that decide which contract binds you.

For a company that buys outside France, the supply chain is covered by dedicated analyses: the legal risks for a company that buys abroad, for the overall picture; the foreign supplier that stops delivering, for the buyer’s remedies; forced labour and deforestation, for the compliance the European Union imposes; and ending a relationship with a foreign supplier, for exiting the relationship.

Governing law and dispute resolution clauses

Every international contract should fix, from the outset of negotiations, the law that will govern it and the chosen method of dispute resolution, a designated state court or international arbitration (ICC, UNCITRAL, local institutions). In the absence of a clear clause, conflict-of-laws rules (the Rome I Regulation for contractual obligations, Hague Conventions for certain specific matters) apply by default, sometimes with an outcome far removed from what the parties expected. Drafting these clauses, often treated as a secondary matter in commercial negotiations, directly determines the effectiveness of any later recourse.

A well-drafted clause, however, is only as good as its enforcement: winning abroad settles nothing until the decision has been declared enforceable in France. That is the purpose of the exequatur procedure, whose regime differs depending on whether the decision is a judgment under the ordinary rules, a European decision or an arbitral award.

International sanctions and compliance

Economic sanctions regimes adopted by the European Union, the United States (OFAC) or the United Nations impose restrictions or prohibitions targeting certain countries, individuals, entities or sectors. A company may be directly targeted by an asset freeze or a prohibition, or indirectly affected as the counterparty, bank or service provider of a sanctioned person. Challenging a designation, handling licence or exemption requests, and setting up internal compliance programmes (due diligence, third-party screening) are at the heart of this practice.

Designation, asset freeze, sanctions clauses and compliance: see our page on the international sanctions lawyer in France.

For a map of the available remedies, see our article How to challenge international sanctions? The six avenues of redress.

Extraterritoriality of foreign laws

Certain legislation, particularly of US origin, claims extraterritorial application that can reach French companies with only a tenuous connection to the United States, use of the dollar, reliance on a US correspondent bank, or export of goods of US origin. Assessing exposure, bringing internal procedures into compliance and, where necessary, defending against proceedings brought on this basis require a careful analysis of the applicable foreign law and the room for manoeuvre available under French and European law (including blocking statutes).

Foreign direct investment screening

A foreign investor’s acquisition of a stake in a French company operating in a sensitive sector (defence, critical technologies, essential infrastructure, among others) may be subject to prior authorisation from the Ministry of the Economy. Anticipating this procedure (characterising the transaction, preparing the notification file, negotiating any commitments) determines the timeline and, at times, the very feasibility of the investment, whether led by a fund, an industrial group or a foreign group.

Prior authorisation, procedure, timing and conditions: see our page on foreign investment in France, and our dedicated guide for Chinese investment in France.

For a detailed analysis of the screening regime, see our article Foreign direct investment in France: the six points that decide whether a transaction is valid.

Customs and trade regulation

Tariff classification of goods, customs origin, customs value and suspensive regimes determine the real cost of an import-export operation. European customs reform, which strengthens compliance obligations applicable in particular to cross-border e-commerce, is reshaping operators’ reporting obligations and requires a regular review of internal customs clearance and flow traceability procedures. Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 September 2026 and applicable from 21 September 2027, now sets that framework: we set out what it changes for businesses in Le nouveau code des douanes de l’Union : ce qui change concrètement pour les entreprises (Village de la Justice, 22 September 2026, in French). A summary is available on this site: The Union Customs Code: Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 has been published.

When an audit turns into a dispute, four analyses follow the case step by step, using the numbering of the French Customs Code in force since 1 May 2026: customs inspections on company premises, on visits, hearings and the right of access to documents; the official customs report, on its evidential weight and the grounds for annulling it; customs fines and settlement, on the choice between litigating and settling; and seizure and release of goods, for the container held at the port.

Audits, reassessments, customs debt and disputes: see our page on the customs lawyer in France; for the phase after the audit, our page on challenging a customs reassessment (recovery notice, suspension of payment, appeals).

On carbon pricing and the CBAM, see our analysis Carbon tax: the six points that determine your legal exposure.

On the 2026 European customs reform, see our analysis European customs reform 2026: the six points that determine your exposure to risk. On the obligations of exporters in 2026, six analyses complete this section: the legal checklist before you sign, what a French exporter must be able to prove on sanctions, when a civil product needs an export licence, proof of exit for the VAT exemption, why made in France is not enough for preferential origin and what Incoterms leave unsettled on risk and retention of title.

Hardship and force majeure in international contracts

Geopolitical crises, supply disruptions, and currency or freight cost swings can upend the economic balance of an international contract concluded before they arose. Whether hardship, force majeure or a contractual hardship clause can be invoked depends closely on the law governing the contract and on how the relevant clauses were drafted; anticipating these situations from the negotiation stage, through renegotiation or adaptation clauses, avoids lengthy and uncertain disputes once performance of the contract becomes unbalanced.

For the six points to master before acting, see our analysis Force majeure and hardship in international contracts: what to know before acting.

These questions were the subject of a workshop led by Hervé Guyader at the 34th ACE congress in La Grande-Motte on 24 September 2026: hardship in international law, seen from private international law, international trade and maritime law.

International arbitration and cross-border dispute resolution

International arbitration remains the preferred method for resolving commercial disputes between parties of different nationalities, given the neutrality it offers and the near-universal recognition of arbitral awards under the 1958 New York Convention. The choice of arbitral institution (ICC, UNCITRAL, regional institutions), seat and governing procedural law should be anticipated from the drafting of the contract, and conducting the proceedings themselves requires a command of rules specific to international arbitration, distinct from those of ordinary court litigation.

How much does an arbitration cost, depending on the institution chosen? The firm publishes a comparative table of the costs of twelve arbitral institutions based on a common scenario, a one million euro dispute before a sole arbitrator, checked against the official schedules and reviewed every six months, together with five analyses: the ad valorem schedules of the ICC, SIAC and SCC; hourly billing at the LCIA, ICDR and HKIAC; the Swiss Arbitration Centre, WIPO and CIETAC; the CAMP and SCMA maritime chambers; and ICSID for investor-State disputes.

On ICC arbitration, six analyses each cover one stage of the case: the 2026 Rules and what they change for companies, which serves as the starting point; the five decisions the clause makes before signature; the emergency arbitrator compared with the national court for the period before the tribunal is constituted; the real budget of an arbitration under the 2026 scale; enforcement of the award in France and abroad, including the reform of 6 August 2026; and the ICC clause in maritime and transport contracts. The practical guide to ICC arbitration draws them together and takes them further.

On arbitration in Singapore in particular, six analyses each examine one moment of the case: the choice between SIAC, SCMA and ad hoc arbitration, and what the seat commits you to; the six decisions the clause makes before signature; the procedures under the SIAC Rules 2025 that apply without the parties’ agreement; emergency relief obtained within twenty-four hours; enforcement of the award in France; and the remedies available to the debtor. The practical guide to arbitration in Singapore draws them together and takes them further.

Unpaid debts, termination and choice of forum: see our page on international commercial litigation in France; to make a foreign decision enforceable, our page on enforcing a foreign judgment in France.

For contracts with a partner in French-speaking Africa, the firm devotes a set of analyses to OHADA arbitration: the choice between the Uniform Act and CCJA arbitration, which governs everything else; drafting the clause, covering seat, language, arbitrators and governing law; remedies against the award, whether setting aside or a challenge to its validity; enforcement against a State or a state-owned enterprise, where immunity from execution comes into play; and, for terminology, the concepts to know before signing. The practical guide to arbitration with a partner in French-speaking Africa draws them together and takes them further.

A judgment or award obtained abroad still has to be turned into money in France. Enforcing a foreign judgment in France: recovering your money from the debtor’s assets sets out the sequence, from tracing assets and freezing them before exequatur to seizure and settlement.

Exequatur and enforcement of foreign decisions in France

Obtaining judgment abroad is not enough to levy execution in France. Outside the Brussels I bis Regulation, a decision must be declared enforceable by a French court before any enforcement measure and, under several bilateral conventions, before any public formality such as the registration of a mortgage. The firm has devoted a set of analyses to this subject, whose general framework is set out in the six points that determine whether a foreign title will be enforceable, and which extend the practical guide Exequatur and enforcement of foreign decisions.

The regime depends on the State of origin, and that variable governs everything else. For Europe, the German judgment illustrates the European regime and the Swiss judgment that of the Lugano Convention. For the Gulf and Asia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and China. For North America, Canada and Quebec, where no convention is in force despite the text signed in 1996. For the Maghreb, each State falls under its own bilateral convention: Morocco under the 1957 convention, Tunisia under the 1972 convention and Algeria under the 1964 convention. Finally, for French-speaking Africa, judgments of OHADA States and rulings of the CCJA are subject to three distinct regimes, which must be sorted out before taking action.

Once the regime has been identified, practice turns on three fronts. Upstream, protective measures before exequatur make it possible to freeze assets while proceedings are pending. In defence, the grounds that can be raised against an application for exequatur remain narrow but real. At the enforcement stage, the work focuses on the asset itself, whether the aim is to attach a bank account, real property or a ship. Arbitration follows a separate route that is more favourable to the creditor, detailed in our analysis of the exequatur of an arbitral award. Our exequatur lawyer page explains how the firm handles these matters.

Bridge to maritime law. Offshore energy projects bring together an international turbine supply contract, an equipment sale under Incoterms, a joint venture between developers of different nationalities and ICC or SIAC arbitration in the event of a dispute: all questions dealt with on this page. What is built, connected and operated at sea falls within the firm’s maritime law practice, set out on the offshore energy law page.

Cross-border maritime disputes. Where the international contract covers carriage by sea, a charterparty or the sale of a ship, the same questions of forum, governing law and enforcement arise under rules of their own: international maritime conventions, bill of lading clauses binding on the holder, conservatory arrest of the vessel. They are covered on our page International maritime lawyer in France.

Resources and international trade law news

The firm publishes a weekly summary of legislative, regulatory and case-law developments in international trade law, together with downloadable practical guides on the topics most frequently faced by exporting companies and international investors.

See all our international trade law news →

Practical guides to download

• How to challenge international sanctions
• Foreign direct investment

Recent publications on international trade law

Hervé Guyader writes regularly on the texts that change day-to-day practice for traders. These recent contributions, to the Village de la Justice and to Le Moci, extend the analyses on this page. Both are published in French.

The firm also publishes a weekly international trade law digest and lists its articles, case notes and press contributions on its publications page.

Companies that export regularly can rely on the firm for ongoing counsel on their international operations; foreign groups established in France, for ongoing counsel to their French subsidiary or branch.

Typical cases handled

The situations below are illustrative, anonymised scenarios. They show when the firm steps in and what the work consists of.

Six situations recur in almost every exporter’s file and have their own pages, written from the client’s point of view with the steps to take in each: the series Exporter disputes: six situations, six answers brings together the customer who does not pay, the buyer who refuses the goods, the late conformity claim, the bank refusing the documentary credit, abrupt termination by a foreign partner and the foreign distributor who stops paying.

Documentary credit rejected for a non-compliant document

An FCA exporter sees its documents rejected by the bank; the goods wait at the port. The firm handles the amendment of the credit, the formal notice to the buyer and the detention costs.

Russian counterparty and sanctions clause

A French supplier must suspend a contract with a designated counterparty. The firm relies on Article 11 of Regulation 833/2014, drafts an asymmetric sanctions clause and secures the exit.

Foreign investment subject to prior authorisation

An Asian fund acquires 30% of a French defence SME. The firm characterises the transaction, prepares the notification to the Ministry of the Economy and negotiates the commitments.

Foreign judgment to be enforced in France

A US company holds a judgment against a Paris-based debtor. The firm obtains exequatur and initiates enforcement.

Recovery notice after a customs audit

An importer receives a recovery notice covering three years of duties, calculated by adding royalties to the customs value. The firm files the challenge in time, obtains suspension of payment against a guarantee and argues that the royalties were not a condition of sale; the procedure is described on our page on challenging a customs reassessment in France.

All the firm’s analyses in international trade, sorted by topic: see the full list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What law applies to an international commercial contract?

In the absence of a governing law clause, the EU Rome I Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 593/2008) designates the applicable law for contracts between professionals within the EU. For the international sale of goods, the Vienna Convention of 11 April 1980 (CISG) applies by default between signatory states, unless expressly excluded by the parties.

That choice, too often overlooked at signature, nonetheless decides the outcome of a dispute years later: addressing it during the negotiations secures performance of the contract and avoids unpleasant surprises if a dispute arises.

Which court has jurisdiction in a dispute with a foreign business partner?

Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, known as “Brussels I bis”, determines jurisdiction within the European Union. Outside the EU, jurisdiction depends on bilateral treaties or, failing that, French private international law rules, subject to a jurisdiction clause or an arbitration clause.

A precisely drafted clause avoids months of procedural battle over the competent court alone, before the merits of the dispute are even reached.

How can a company challenge international sanctions (EU, OFAC, UN)?

Before the EU, an action for annulment can be brought before the General Court of the EU (Article 263 TFEU) within two months. Before OFAC, a delisting request or a specific license application can be filed directly with the US Treasury agency.

These time limits are short and the files highly technical: a prompt and well-documented response determines the real chances of obtaining delisting or an exemption.

What is the extraterritoriality of US law and who is affected?

It refers to the application of US laws (OFAC sanctions, the FCPA, export controls under EAR/ITAR) to foreign companies whenever a transaction involves the US dollar, a US subsidiary, or goods or technology of US origin, making many French exporting mid-caps and SMEs answerable to Washington.

Many French exporters are exposed in this way without being fully aware of it, which is why a compliance audit before any sensitive transaction is worthwhile.

Which Incoterms should be chosen to secure an export transaction?

The Incoterms 2020 rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) allocate risks, costs and responsibilities between seller and buyer. The choice depends on the mode of transport, the level of control sought over logistics, and the degree of trust placed in the business partner.

A poorly chosen Incoterm can shift onto the seller risks it believed it had excluded: the choice deserves case-by-case analysis, contract by contract.

Matters in this field are handled by Hervé Guyader, avocat at the Paris Bar and Doctor of Law. Page updated on 4 November 2026.