Richard Levick | May 14th, 2019
“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”

-Frank Sinatra
The U.S. market remains the envy of the world. Even when — as some Asian clients have told us — it isn’t always the most profitable market, it is the most prestigious. And, it is often remarkably profitable.
Companies obviously want to do business in the U.S. But for many of these companies, the challenges, always difficult, have become far more complex. Last year, we wrote a multi-part series in Forbes on how foreign companies can navigate the U.S. legal and regulatory challenges. That series garnered a great deal of interest and now another article in the series (below), as well as a forthcoming eBook and several broadcasts, which will come out later this spring.
As the advertising slogan goes, “This Bud’s for you.” For the Middle Eastern company under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation, even though they do not trade on any U.S. exchanges, sell any products or services in the States, or employ any Americans. For the Korean chaebol struggling with critical media in Seoul and wondering how it will impact their American expansion plans. For the Chinese technology company looking to compete in the U.S. market at a time when trust is lower than before President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972 and obviously long before technology made distinguishing the difference between a state-owned enterprise and a private one virtually impossible to detect. And Russian companies? Even finding a U.S. law firm can be a challenge. Indeed, for any company who has looked at the American market with ambition, this article and series are for you.
FCPA, CFIUS, antitrust, trade secrets, export controls, antidumping, the plaintiffs’ bar, an independent and investigative U.S. media, grassroots activism, and now a trade war. The U.S. market is as rife with challenges as it is opportunity.
The most succinct advice we give foreign companies eyeing America: Don’t think in terms of a single “fixer,” which worked so well a half century ago. Instead think of a trusted, highly experienced team that understands Washington, DC and the continental US – lawyers, lobbyists, intelligence, and communications. Look at the Starbuck model and how it successfully entered China (a new Starbucks opens in China every 15 hours). That is, dismiss all of your comfortable homegrown knowledge which is now not an advantage but a prejudice. Hire internal and external talent in the U.S. at the most senior levels. You are about to have to make a series of “go-no go” decisions about issues perfectly legal or otherwise uneventful in your home country but are now mission critical in the U.S. Your internal team must be as expert at deciphering the U.S. advice as your trusted counselors are at providing it.
Happy reading.
Richard Levick
Read More: Amid Escalating Trade Tensions, Asian Companies Need Help Navigating U.S. Market
Richard Levick | May 14th, 2019
“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”

-Frank Sinatra
The U.S. market remains the envy of the world. Even when — as some Asian clients have told us — it isn’t always the most profitable market, it is the most prestigious. And, it is often remarkably profitable.
Companies obviously want to do business in the U.S. But for many of these companies, the challenges, always difficult, have become far more complex. Last year, we wrote a multi-part series in Forbes on how foreign companies can navigate the U.S. legal and regulatory challenges. That series garnered a great deal of interest and now another article in the series (below), as well as a forthcoming eBook and several broadcasts, which will come out later this spring.
As the advertising slogan goes, “This Bud’s for you.” For the Middle Eastern company under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation, even though they do not trade on any U.S. exchanges, sell any products or services in the States, or employ any Americans. For the Korean chaebol struggling with critical media in Seoul and wondering how it will impact their American expansion plans. For the Chinese technology company looking to compete in the U.S. market at a time when trust is lower than before President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972 and obviously long before technology made distinguishing the difference between a state-owned enterprise and a private one virtually impossible to detect. And Russian companies? Even finding a U.S. law firm can be a challenge. Indeed, for any company who has looked at the American market with ambition, this article and series are for you.
FCPA, CFIUS, antitrust, trade secrets, export controls, antidumping, the plaintiffs’ bar, an independent and investigative U.S. media, grassroots activism, and now a trade war. The U.S. market is as rife with challenges as it is opportunity.
The most succinct advice we give foreign companies eyeing America: Don’t think in terms of a single “fixer,” which worked so well a half century ago. Instead think of a trusted, highly experienced team that understands Washington, DC and the continental US – lawyers, lobbyists, intelligence, and communications. Look at the Starbuck model and how it successfully entered China (a new Starbucks opens in China every 15 hours). That is, dismiss all of your comfortable homegrown knowledge which is now not an advantage but a prejudice. Hire internal and external talent in the U.S. at the most senior levels. You are about to have to make a series of “go-no go” decisions about issues perfectly legal or otherwise uneventful in your home country but are now mission critical in the U.S. Your internal team must be as expert at deciphering the U.S. advice as your trusted counselors are at providing it.
Happy reading.
Richard Levick
Read More: Amid Escalating Trade Tensions, Asian Companies Need Help Navigating U.S. Market
- Brand
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- What Happens Next?
- CSR & Sustainability
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- WATCH: Reputation Management with PRSA
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Why Non-Profits are so Vulnerable to Crisis Risk
- The Threat to Free Markets
- What Happens When Nonprofits Get Caught In The Klieg Lights?
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Avoid Future Shock: 10 Changes to Anticipate for 2021
- Guidance for Corporate Reputation Risk
- Communications
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- What Happens Next?
- CSR & Sustainability
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- WATCH: Reputation Management with PRSA
- Leveraging Legal Expertise in Communications
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Why Non-Profits are so Vulnerable to Crisis Risk
- The Threat to Free Markets
- Dropping the Mic
- Company News
- Recent Awards & Recognition
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- What’s a Director to Do?
- LEVICK Announces Partnership with BCG
- A New Look
- Albert Krieger, 1923-2020
- LEVICK Announces Partnership with Jipyong
- Speaking to In-House Counsel
- Childhood Lessons
- LEVICK Announces New Webinar Series with Turbine Labs
- LEVICK Launches New Website
- LEVICK to Launch Podcast
- Crisis
- What to expect as the clock approaches midnight
- How to Stop the Madness
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- The Cost of Government Regulation and the Threat to Free Enterprise
- What Happens Next?
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- Covid-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- Finance
- The Threat to Free Markets
- Advisory & Insurance Services
- WATCH: Revolutionizing Litigation Finance
- Litigation Finance: Revolutionizing Litigation
- Consumer-Focused Solutions for Financial Health
- Event: Consumer-Focused Solutions for Financial Health
- Sports: Power and Money in a New Age of Social Justice
- The Balancing Act: The Role of Whistleblowers in American Commerce and Government
- The Evolving and More Powerful FARA
- FCPA & Compliance in a Time of Uncertainty
- Shareholders vs. Stakeholders: Is the Paradigm Shifting?
- CommPRO: Transparent Political Donations
- Guest Column
- Guest Blog: The Mainstream Media Gets an A for Intellectual Arrogance, an F for Journalism
- Buckle up Directors: Cybersecurity Risk and Bankruptcy Risk Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- Buckle up Directors: Cybersecurity Risk and Bankruptcy Risk Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- South Africa: The Slow Decline of the ANC
- Why CSR Fails and How to Fix It
- What to Expect Following the European Elections?
- Buhari Inaugurated. What Now for Nigeria?
- Marketing- It’s Up To You…
- Crisis Management lessons from the air-crash investigation model
- The Future of War
- Health
- Food Issues & the Biden Administration
- Covid-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened
- Pharma’s Post-Pandemic Policy Outlook
- Keeping Hope Alive
- Real Herd Immunity
- The Fiction of College Sports Amateurism
- Mac Summit: Crisis Communications in a Post-Covid, Post-Election World
- Travel Industry Communications in the Age of Covid-19
- Track of Time
- Is C-19 Taking Women Lawyers’ Careers Back to the 1950s?
- Post-Pandemic PR Strategy
- Bankruptcy: A Culture of Transparency
- In Memoriam
- Snider’s Super Foods: Locally World Famous
- Speak Truth With Love, Not Anger
- In Memoriam: Stephen Susman
- Letter to the Movement
- John Lewis’ Life Bridged the Best of America
- Albert Krieger, 1923-2020
- In Memoriam of Marcia Horowitz
- Jim Lehrer Passes Away
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Harold Burson Passes Away
- Interviews
- CommPRO: Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Life & Legacy
- Richard Levick on “My Wakeup Call”
- Primerus Webinar: Into the Wind
- The Future of Baseball Post-Pandemic
- Webinar: The End of Brand Neutrality
- Thought Leadership & Organic Growth
- Man & Superman
- LEVICK Announces New Webinar Series with Turbine Labs
- Navigating Coronavirus Challenges in the Insurance Industry
- VIDEO: How to Anticipate & Avoid a Crisis
- What’s Next? with Julie Chase
- What’s Next?: California Electoral Behavior
- Law Firms
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal
- A Salute to Personal Courage and the Rule of Law
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- When a client becomes a law firm’s PR nightmare
- The General Counsel’s Dilemma
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- The Latest Top Class Actions
- Trust on Trial: How Communicators Succeed in a World No Longer Trusted
- The Latest Settlements, Class actions, Investigations & More
- Managing Legal & Communication Advice in a Crisis
- Litigation
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- Leveraging Legal Expertise in Communications
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal
- A Salute to Personal Courage and the Rule of Law
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- When a client becomes a law firm’s PR nightmare
- The General Counsel’s Dilemma
- WATCH: Revolutionizing Litigation Finance
- Litigation Finance: Revolutionizing Litigation
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- Our Work
- Recent Awards & Recognition
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- Crisis Communications & The Age of Cancel Culture
- Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
- Video: Conversations with American Legends
- Staying Ahead of the Crisis
- A New Era of Insurance Marketing
- Infographic: Judgment Free Zone
- Infographic: Barriers to Entry
- Infographic: History Meter
- Assistance for Law Firms Engaged in Pro Bono
- Webinar: The End of Brand Neutrality
- Public Affairs
- What to expect as the clock approaches midnight
- How to Stop the Madness
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- Food Issues & the Biden Administration
- The Cost of Government Regulation and the Threat to Free Enterprise
- What Happens Next?
- CSR & Sustainability
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- Risk
- Ingredients of Decency
- ESG Performance and Credit Markets
- The Coronavirus Saga is Just Beginning
- No. 1 Risk of the Decade
- The Risk Evolution of Corporate Risk
- Extend Risk Management Reach
- Collective Action
- Risk Identifying Software
- The New Risk of Doing Nothing
- Political Unrest In Hong Kong
- High-Profile Kidnaps in African National Parks
- Cyber Resilience
- Social
- How to Stop the Madness
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- CSR & Sustainability
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Dropping the Mic
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- Crisis, Covid, DEI & the Election
- MLK’s Memphis Address
- The Fiction of College Sports Amateurism
- Technology
- Constella Intelligence Announces Hunter for Improved Investigation Capability
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- Digital Politics: The Future of Voting Technology
- Ethics in Electronics
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- The Pause
- Cybersecurity Incidents of the Summer
- The Changing Digital Economy and Cyber Risks
- The Future of U.S. Manufacturing
- Tech CEO Summer Superbowl hearing
- Technology & Privacy Alert
- This Week
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Dropping the Mic
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- What We Hear
- Track of Time
- Video: Conversations with American Legends
- Conversations with American Legends
- A New Era of Insurance Marketing
- American Legend