About me

Address: Washington, D.C.: Robert S. Strauss Tower, 2001 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006-1037

Areas of Focus: International Trade; International Trade Policy; World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Resolution & Counseling; Customs & Import Controls; Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection; Export Controls; Regulatory; International Disputes; International Trade Commission

Biography:
Sarah advises U.S. and foreign clients on complex strategy and compliance matters at the intersection of trade policy and supply chain regulation. She provides practical, business-friendly guidance on a range of trade and supply chain issues, including:
- Tariff policy and tariff mitigation strategies.
- FTA negotiations, disputes and eligibility analysis.
- Forced labor law compliance, including Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions, the revocation of Withhold Release Orders and rapid response labor mechanism cases under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
- Supply chain due diligence.
- Eligibility for U.S. tax credits and other incentives, particularly with respect to compliance with foreign entity restrictions.
- Goods and services market access and non-tariff trade barriers.
- Electronic commerce and digital trade issues.
Sarah not only helps clients shape these policies—through advocacy, rulemaking and disputes—but she also helps them comply and respond to enforcement actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Commerce, among others.
She also represents private sector clients in trade litigation matters before the U.S. Court of International Trade. Sarah represents sovereign governments in trade disputes before the WTO, FTA panels and other international fora.
Sarah’s practice focuses on industries facing increased risks due to U.S. trade policy and national security objectives. She is a go-to advisor for clients across the automotive, energy storage, solar, aerospace, electronics, building materials and retail sectors.
Prior to her legal career, Sarah worked in management consulting for a global firm, focusing on the management of organizational reforms within U.S. government agencies.

Representative Work:
- Advises automotive manufacturers and suppliers on FTA rule of origin compliance and related legal and policy matters.
- Developing an internal compliance program for a major battery manufacturer to support tax credit eligibility and foreign entity restriction compliance.
- Counsels multinational solar, apparel and sporting goods companies on supply chain due diligence related to forced labor compliance, including in response to detentions and Withhold Release Orders.
- Member of lead counsel team in litigation challenging the legality of the Section 301 tariffs on products of China.
- Successfully advocated for Section 301 tariff exclusions for numerous clients in the automotive, electronics, medical device, home goods, building materials, apparel and other sectors.
- Represents solar sector and battery supply chain manufacturers in joint venture negotiations to enable compliance with federal incentives and foreign entity restrictions.
- Represented sovereign governments as complainants, respondents and third parties in over 25 trade disputes related to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), the General Agreement on Services (GATS), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement), the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) and the USMCA, among others.

Credentials:
Education: J.D., Duke University School of Law, 2017; M.P.P., University of Virginia, 2012; B.A., University of Virginia, 2011
Bar Admissions: District of Columbia, 2018; Virginia, 2017
Court Admissions: U.S. Court of International Trade, 2019; Virginia Supreme Court, 2017

Recognitions:
- The Legal 500 US , International Trade, 2022, 2024–2026, Leading Associate, 2025, Next Generation Partner, 2026.
- Akin, Pro Bono Scholar, 2015.

Affiliations:
- Women in International Trade.
- Washington International Trade Association.

Insights:
- EU AI Act Amendments Defer and Clarify Obligations (July 28, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/EU-AI-act-amendments-defer-and-clarify-obligations
- A Billion-Dollar Milestone: The Trade Fraud Task Force Signals a New Era of Criminal and Civil Trade Enforcement (July 20, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/a-billion-dollar-milestone-the-trade-fraud-task-force-signals-a-new-era-of-criminal-and-civil-trade-enforcement
- CPSC Rule Mandates eFiling of Certificates of Compliance for Imported Consumer Products (July 15, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/cpsc-rule-mandates-efiling-of-certificates-of-compliance-for-imported-consumer-products
- New Presidential Executive Order Directing Comprehensive Customs Reform: What Importers and Other U.S. CBP Regulated Parties Need To Know (June 15, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/new-presidential-executive-order-directing-comprehensive-customs-reform-what-importers-and-other-us-cbp-regulated-parties-need-to-know
- Akin Secures Top Rankings in The Legal 500 US 2026  (June 10, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/awards-and-accolades/akin-secures-top-rankings-in-the-legal-500-us-2026
- EU Industrial Accelerator Act: Focus on Green and Important Details to be Negotiated (March 4, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/eu-industrial-accelerator-act-focus-on-green-and-important-details-to-be-negotiated
- Senate Finance Committee Members Move to Eliminate “First Sale” Principle (February 13, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/senate-finance-committee-members-move-to-eliminate-first-sale-principle
- Akin Promotes 12 Lawyers to Partnership (January 5, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/press-releases/akin-promotes-12-lawyers-to-partnership
- Steering Toward 2035: EU’s Automotive Sector Gets a Package (December 19, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/steering-toward-2035-eus-automotive-sector-gets-a-package
- Key Takeaways from the 2025 National Security Strategy: What Has Changed and What It Means for Business (December 17, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/key-takeaways-from-the-2025-national-security-strategy-what-has-changed-and-what-it-means-for-business
- Navigating the EU's Digital Omnibus on Privacy, Cyber, Data and AI and Next Steps (November 25, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/navigating-the-eus-digital-omnibus-on-privacy-cyber-data-and-ai-and-next-steps
- State of U.S. Tariff Policy and What’s Next: Focus on EU and Switzerland (July 21, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/state-of-us-tariff-policy-and-whats-next-focus-on-eu-and-switzerland