Legal Question in International Law in Washington

We are a US based company that exports dairy products. We are in a situation where the Chinese Gov't may prohibit dairy products from US into China effective June 1st. If this is the case we will likely enact force majeur on June and July contracts. My question is, how long do you need to wait before enacting force majeur. For instance, if China prohibits US dairy products June 1st, can we use force majeur to cancel contracts or is there a standard "wait period" to see if the situation is corrected?


Asked on 5/24/10, 8:25 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

As long as the situation is in place, you can declare force majeur. The contract likely provides that force majeur only applies to the period of time when the interfering condition is in place, and so if the Chinese government does reverse itself, you may be called upon to resume shipping, if your contract so states. But unless your contract expressly provides otherwise, you do not need to wait to see if the problem will go away.

I can't answer in more detail without seeing the contract, which may also contain other relevant provisions. Good luck

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Answered on 5/25/10, 11:07 am


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