RICHARD BELANGER advises companies, industry associations, and governments on international trade issues, particularly customs, export controls, trade remedies, trade policy and related legislation. His practice extends to counseling, administrative proceedings, litigation, and legislative activities. Dick has developed and helped to implement import/export compliance programs for major multinational companies from a wide range of industry sectors, including heavy equipment, pharmaceuticals, electronics, steel, food products, footwear and apparel.
Dick is counsel to the U.S. Business Alliance for Customs Modernization (BACM), a coalition of large companies dedicated to streamlining and harmonizing government processes for imports and exports.
Dick is widely recognized as one of the leading customs practitioners. He features prominently in the international trade rankings of the leading bar publications such as Chambers, The Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal. In the 2015 edition of Chambers, clients praise Dick’s ability to combine technical facility with strategic oversight, saying: “He knows the politics and history of a situation but can also get down to the technical level, and moves easily between those two realms.” Dick has also been recognized in the 2015 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Trade and Customs. The Best Lawyers in America 2013’s research in recent years has revealed: “Richard Belanger is an outstanding trade and customs attorney who commands a high degree of respect, both within government and in the importing community. He does a fantastic job explaining the theory behind trade and customs law, and he knows, in detail, how customs issues need to be addressed in the real world. He is one of the most insightful professionals with whom I have ever had the opportunity to work.” The Legal 500 also quotes a client: “Richard Belanger knows ‘how to get the job done, and has some of the best instincts on how to address key issues in the interest of his client’.” In 2017, The Legal 500added Dick to the Hall of Fame within the International Trade category.
Dick began his professional career at a customs brokerage, and later served in government as an attorney-advisor at the predecessor agency to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also served in the U.S. Army as a medical corpsman, being attached to the Americal Division in Vietnam in 1969–1970.
