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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back- Or Vice Versa: Labor Rights Under Free Trade Agreements From Nafta, Through Jordan, Via Chile, To Latin America, And Beyond, Marley S. Weiss

Marley S. Weiss

No abstract provided.

The President, The Environment, And Foreign Policy: The Globalization Of Environmental Politics, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

By comparison with domestic environmental issues, international environmental diplomacy is distinguished by the far greater role of the Executive Branch, and in particular the President, in making law. This essay explores the legal consequences of the President's dual role in international environmental diplomacy: his duty faithfully to execute statutory mandates adopted by Congress while also serving as the Nation's chief diplomat and negotiator of international agreements with foreign powers. The piece discusses the legal and policy dynamics surrounding two concrete examples affecting domestic and international environmental policy, in which Presidential power assumes dramatically different forms: (1) climate change, and in …

The ‘Fair’ Trade Law Of Nations, Or A ‘Fair’ Global Law Of Economic Relations?, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

The Integration Of Smaller Economies Into The Ftaa, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

Nafta And The Creation Of The Ftaa: A Critique Of Piecemeal Accession, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In The North American Free Trade Agreement: A Successful Case Of Regional Trade Regulation, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

"Americas Agreements" - An Interim Stage In Building The Free Trade Area Of The Americas, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

Nafta And The U.S.-Mexican Trucking Dispute, Robert J. Carbaugh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Although the charter of the North American Free Trade Agreement established a schedule that would have opened the border states of the United States to competition from Mexican trucking companies in 1995, and all of the United States to this competition in 2000, the full implementation of these provisions has been delayed due to concerns about the safety of Mexican trucks and drivers. This delay has resulted in much frustration for Mexico, which, in 2009 implemented retaliatory tariffs on products imported from the United States. In March, 2011 the two countries unveiled a deal to resolve this dispute which could …

American Trade Unions And Nafta, Lance Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] The move to cheap labor and unregulated enterprise abroad puts an individual firm in an advantageous competitive position. But in the aggregate, this movement creates conditions for global economic stagnation. An enterprise cannot have constantly cheaper foreign sources of supply and constantly lower wages and benefits at home, on one hand, and constantly expanding domestic and foreign markets to sell its goods, on the other hand. As each firm sheds workers, cuts the wages of those who remain, and invests in cheap labor sources for manufactured goods, it will find that mass purchasing power to buy its products has …

Works In Progress: Constructing The Social Dimension Of Trade In The Americas, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] This paper reviews labor rights in the trade arrangements of four regional and binational settings in the Americas: • the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among Canada, Mexico and the United States; • the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay; • the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA); and • the Caribbean Community (Caricom) embracing several island nations in a common market. The labor rights agreements, charters and declarations examined here are at different levels of development and experience. They are "works in progress," just beginning to experiment with the central challenge of …

El Acuerdo De Cooperación Laboral Del Tratado De Libre Comercio De América Del Norte: ¿Dimensión Social O Decepción Social?, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] En este país los sindicatos continúan criticando los puntos débiles del Acuerdo, especialmente la exclusión de asuntos referentes a la sindicalización, la negociación y las huelgas, los mecanismos de solución de controversias, y la carencia de soluciones ejecutorias bajo el ACL. Al mismo tiempo, se han dado cuenta de que resulta un foro muy útil para exponer casos de violaciones de los derechos de los trabajadores por parte de corporaciones multinacionales que operan en el marco del TLC. Con ello intentan promover una presión popular dirigida a detener la ampliación del TLC a Chile y el resto de América …

Another Look At Nafta, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

"Weak," "toothless," "worthless" and "a farce"—these were some of the epithets applied to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) labor side accord negotiated by the United States, Mexico, and Canada in 1993. Trade unionists and labor rights supporters were upset, first by the text of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) when it appeared, then by early experiences after it went into effect on January 1, 1994. But those wanting progress on labor rights and standards in international trade should be careful of making some idealized “best” the enemy of the good.

The Art Of Ignoring Impatient Elephants, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] Migrant labour was the elephant in the room when American, Mexican and Canadian negotiators hammered out the North American Free Trade Agreement last year. The elephant is still in the room, as negotiators now try to work out a "side agreement" on labour rights and labour standards to fulfill a campaign promise by President Bill Clinton. They never mention migrant worker rights, the single biggest issue affecting labour standards and labour conditions on the North American continent.

The North American Free Trade Agreemetn: Looking At The Binational Panel System Through The Lens Of Free Enterpresie Fund, John J. Garman, Matthew K. Bell

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

This paper examines the constitutionality of the binational panels of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) under the United States Constitution. Part I provides an overview of the binational panel process. Part II outlines the process for challenging the constitutionality of binational panels and the obstacles that must be overcome. Part III discusses possible violations of the Due Process Clause. Part IV analyzes the constitutionality of binational panels under Article II of the United States Constitution. Part V examines the constitutional implications of Article III with respect to the absence of judicial review. Part VI is a case-by-case analysis …

Effects Of Free Trade Areas In Trade Promotion: Gravity Model Approach, Mona Jit Mui Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Since the early 1990s, the world has seen a proliferation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). One of the key objectives of FTAs is to expand trade between or amongst its signatories. This study explores the intra-FTA and extra-FTA trade expansion capability of 3 types of FTA: North-North FTA (European Union (EU)-15 as a representative), North-South FTA (North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a representative) and South-South FTA (Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN ) Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) as a representative). The study made an attempt to address the spread of such FTA-led trade expansion amongst the members and …

A Comparative Approach: Denial Of Justice In Nafta Chapter 11 And The European Convention On Human Rights, Heather L. Bray

Digitized Theses

Denial ofjustice is an important concept in international law that holds states accountable for administering justice in a fundamentally inadequate way. While denial of justice is one of the oldest concepts in international law, it remains ambiguous. This thesis seeks to provide normative content to the term ‘denial of justice.’ It does this by employing a comparative methodological approach that compares the denial of justice standard contained in Art. 1105 NAFTA with the fair trial guarantees embodied in Art. 6 ECHR. This comparison exposes essential similarities between investment law and human rights law (origin, function, purpose, and substantive provisions) but …

Managing The Rule Of Law In The Americas: An Empirical Portrait Of The Effects Of 15 Years Of Wto, Mercosul, And Nafta Dispute Resolution On Civil Society In Latin America, Stephen Joseph Powell, Ludmila Mendonça Lopes Ribeiro

Stephen Joseph Powell

The objective of this article is to analyze the effect of World Trade Organization (WTO), Common Market of the South (MERCOSUL), and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) disputes involving Latin American (LA) countries on perfection of the rule of law by LA governments.

Specifically, we examine the extent to which dispute settlement facilitates the strengthening by LA governments of human rights for their civil societies. Professor Powell previously has noted that trade and human rights are inextricably linked because trade rules weaken the ability of governments to promote sustainable development, to alleviate the widening gap between rich and poor, …