John H. Kester is an attorney at GKG Law, P.C. focused on U.S. Customs, foreign sanctions, and international trade.

In his Customs practice, Mr. Kester represents numerous importers affected by the Trump Administration’s IEEPA tariffs before the Court of International Trade. He additionally advises clients related to tariff mitigation strategies, and U.S. Customs rules related to country of origin, bonded merchandise, and operating Foreign-Trade Zones (“FTZs”). He achieved a passing score on Customs and Border Protection’s rigorous Customs Broker License Exam, and his application for a Broker License is pending.

In his sanctions practice, Mr. Kester advocates for clients seeking licenses from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and counsels clients on sanctions risk, including those facing new sanctions regimes prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He also helps to prepare internal corporate programs for compliance with the complex regulatory environment.

In his broader trade practice, Mr. Kester has participated in litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Federal Maritime Commission. Those matters include lawsuits totaling millions of dollars wherein non-vessel-operating common carriers wrongly have been assessed detention and demurrage. Additionally, Mr. Kester helped to author an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, taking on all four of the largest U.S. rail carriers. He also has advocated for client interests in rulemaking comments before the Surface Transportation Board.

Mr. Kester has particular insight into trade in Central Asia and the Caucasus, and has presented on sanctions, export controls, and U.S. Customs before the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan and the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia. In September 2025, he was the only private attorney member of the U.S. Business Delegation to the Middle Corridor, a week-long shipping and logistics focused mission to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The delegation focused on increasing trade across the Caspian Sea such that cargo travels quickly between Asia and Europe and avoids sanctioned countries Russia and Iran.  In addition to conversations with numerous private shipping and logistics related entities, Mr. Kester spoke with the U.S. chargés d’affaires to each of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia and attended separate face-to-face meetings with high-ranking foreign government officials including Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Transport, the Chairman of its State Customs Committee, the Chairman of its national railway, Georgia’s Minister and Deputy Minister of Economy, and the Deputy Governor of Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, through whose ports cargo travels across the Caspian.

He also counsels corporations and non-profits regarding their intellectual property concerns, prepares intellectual property agreements, and provides trademark registration and renewal services.

Before practicing law, Mr. Kester reported financial news for The Wall Street Journal from its New York headquarters, producing more than 100 stories for print and online. After returning to his hometown of Washington, D.C. he began reporting breaking international and defense news for Foreign Policy, including a story about a surge in IED casualties in Afghanistan that drew from official-use Pentagon documents. He later worked for Foreign Policy’s in-house research firm, FP Analytics, where he focused on projects for Booz Allen Hamilton and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Mr. Kester’s work has been published by Foreign Policy, Washingtonian, and The Wall Street Journal, including an article cited by Harvard Business Law Review and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services. Mr. Kester has been an invited speaker at various organizations including the Washington European Society.

He received a juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Certificate in Transnational Legal Studies from the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London in 2013.

He has worked and studied in London, Paris, and Tokyo, and has visited nearly sixty countries on five continents.

Education

  • Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 2013
  • Center for Transnational Legal Studies, Certificate in Transnational Legal Studies, 2013
  • Colby College, B.A., magna cum laude, 2008
  • University College London, study abroad, 2007

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia

Federal Court Admissions

  • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • United States District Court for the District of Columbia
  • United States Court of International Trade

Languages

  • Spanish

Professional Associations

  • International Law Community, District of Columbia Bar
  • International Law Section, American Bar Association