The Five Most Basic Rules for Doing Business in a Foreign Country

Home | China Law Blog | The Five Most Basic Rules for Doing Business in a Foreign Country Over the weekend, a U.S. company emailed seeking our help in finding them a criminal lawyer to represent one of their employees who had been arrested in a foreign country for trying to buy cannabis. The employee's excuse was that he "thought cannabis was legal." I took this to mean he thought that because cannabis is legal in his home state in the United States he thought it was legal everywhere in the world. At one point in our email conversation, the company owner told me how irritated he was with his employee for not "at least checking on the legality of cannabis in that country before he bought it." When my two kids did their foreign study (one in Vietnam and the other in Spain), I lectured them (endlessly, they might say) on the importance of what I called Rule Number One when in a foreign country: do not do anything you think might conceivably be illegal, because you just don't know." Another way to put it is that you must follow the laws of the country in which you are located. I think this blog emphasizes this point in just about all of our posts. The need to abide by the law of the country in which you find yourself holds equally true for companies as well. All this led me to think about the top five most important rules for doing business in a foreign country and the below are those rules. Rule Number One. It is incumbent upon you to know the rules in the countries in which you and/or your company operate. Rule Number Two. Do not assume anything about how to operate legally in a foreign country. In particular, do not assume that what is legal in your home country is legal in the foreign country. Rule Number Three. Do not sign a foreign language contract unless you know exactly what it says as you will be bound by that contract. Do not believe the translation provided to you by your foreign counter-party and with some countries -- China in particular -- do not even believe the translation provided to you by your foreign lawyer. See China Contract Drafting Scams: From Bad to Much Worse. Rule Number Four. Line up your IP protections before going into any foreign country, or even talking with any foreign company. See e.g., China Trademarks and the Real Life Meaning of First to File. Rule Number Five. Do not use anyone as your lawyer except your own lawyer. This one really ought to be obvious, but having seen at least two dozen companies violate this rule and pay the price for having done so, it apparently isn't. Anyone have any additions to the above list? Check Out Our China Law Services Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn E-mail Comment Dan Harris Dan Harris is a founding member of Harris Sliwoski, an international law firm where he mostly represents companies doing business in emerging market countries. Most of his time is spent helping American and European companies navigate foreign countries by working with the international lawyers at his firm in setting up companies overseas (WFOEs, Subsidiaries, Rep Offices and Joint Ventures), drafting international contracts, protecting IP, and overseeing M&A transactions. In addition, Dan writes and speaks extensively on international law, with a focus on protecting foreign businesses in their overseas operations. He is also a prolific and widely-followed blogger, writing as the co-author of the award-winning China Law Blog. Harris Sliwoski Attorney Read more posts [email protected] Read More International Business Related Posts September 15, 2026 Your AI-Drafted China Contract Says It Needs a Lawyer. Listen to It. September 11, 2026 Forensic Accountants in China Business Litigation: How True Numbers Can Tell the Wrong Story September 4, 2026 China NNN Agreement or Trademark Registration? 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You Can Still Lose. July 29, 2026 The RedNote Contract Lesson for Companies Doing Business in China 2 responses to “The Five Most Basic Rules for Doing Business in a Foreign Country” I was surprised you left this one off your list: "Just because 'everyone does it' doesn't mean you should." And of course I am talking about cutting corners, paying bribes and engaging in other (obviously) illegal behavior, even if everyone DOES do it. As you have written often (as recently as a couple of days ago, I think), there are plenty of laws and regulations that governments enforce selectively if they enforce them at all (especially in China), but they are nonetheless laws, and "everyone does it" is a very poor legal defense in most jurisdictions. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down, and as your company gets bigger and more successful, it will attract more attention. It's very easy for a competitor to "drop a dime" (I'm showing my age ... kids, that expression, which you can Google, dates from the days when phone calls cost 10 cents and you would literally "drop a dime" into the payphone (pro tip: always call from a payphone, though today you may have trouble finding one) to blow the whistle on you ... Reply I should have added this and I will! Reply Leave a comment Cancel reply