Lawyer GRAAFSMA Folkert

Folkert Graafsma specializes in international commercial law, general EU and WTO law, and customs law. He is particularly renowned in the field of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, having successfully represented clients in over 150 anti-dumping and countervailing proceedings, including landmark cases in the EU and the United States involving both industrial and consumer goods.

Folkert specializes in trade law matters, including anti-dumping, subsidies, safeguards, and customs. He advises and assists governments, multinationals, and trade associations in these areas. His expertise covers all stages of the process, from preparing questionnaire responses to challenging measures before courts and the WTO.

Over the past 25 years, Folkert has represented clients in major trade cases in the EU and the United States, including matters involving bricks, cotton fabrics, DVDs, footwear, and shrimp (U.S. case). He has also participated in more recent anti-dumping and anti-subsidy proceedings, notably in areas such as solar panels, bicycles, biodiesel, organic-coated steel, aluminum road wheels, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), WWAN modems, fatty alcohols, stainless steel wires, and magnesium oxides.

Folkert has been involved in approximately 15 dispute resolution cases before the EU courts and the WTO. In recent years, he has successfully represented exporters such as Kuiburi Fruit Canning Co., Ltd., SRF Limited, Zhejiang Xinanchem, PT Ecogreen Oleochemicals, and Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd.

At the WTO, Folkert co-counseled India in the landmark WTO anti-dumping dispute EC – Bed Linen, where the issue of "zeroing" was resolved. He continues to be involved in WTO proceedings concerning large civil aircraft trade.

Folkert is the editor of the annual International Trade Law Review (published by Law Business Research) and co-editor of the bimonthly Global Trade and Customs Journal (published by Kluwer). He has co-authored two textbooks with Edwin Vermulst and published numerous articles while regularly speaking at conferences.

Folkert holds a joint degree in law and business from Stanford University and is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, and Chambers Belgium. Sources describe him as a "true driver" and a "top-notch" trade lawyer, praising his technical expertise in trade defense instruments (Chambers Europe 2016). He clerked at the European Commission and has been a member of the Brussels Bar since 1990.