AAEI is recognizing AAEI members— Trade Champions— whose careers in international trade have had significant impact on the development of trade policy and practice. This month, AAEI remembers Dick Belanger of Sidley Austin LLP.
Dick passed away in November after battling cancer. He was a former member of AAEI Board of Governors and an active AAEI member. Dick is also known for being counsel to the U.S. Business Alliance for Customs Modernization (BACM), which is a select group of large U.S.-based importers which works, along with AAEI, to achieve a modern, efficient and responsible customs regime in the United States.
As is noted in his obituary, Dick served in the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart. He later pursued a law degree and worked for a time at the U.S. Customs Service. He later went into private practice. Before he retired from Sidley Austin, Dick hosted a luncheon for veterans every year at the firm on Veterans Day.
We remember Dick for being a leading customs law practitioner and for his warm personality. AAEI members are proud to have worked Dick over the years, and it is AAEI’s honor to remember him as a Trade Champion.