International Trade Law Commons^™

Note, Throwing A Monkey Wrench Into The Wheels Of International Finance: Wells Fargo Asia Ltd. V. Citibank, N.A., Edmund W. Sim

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note attempts to illustrate concisely the issues and potential ramifications of Wells Fargo. After describing the complex factual and procedural histories of the case, the note briefly surveys the various approaches to the Act of State doctrine and suggests that the Court should consider Act of State issues in Wells Fargo. Next, it examines the lower courts' analyses of the case and what effects their rulings would have if the Court were to adopt them. Due to the resulting legal confusion that the lower courts' decisions would wreak on the Eurodollar community, Wells Fargo should not remain …

The Hamiltonian Paradigm And The International Securities Market: Reversing American Industry's Relative Decline In The Twenty-First Century, Bernard M. Rethore

Penn State International Law Review (1982 - 2011)

This article discusses the eighteenth century understanding of the subtle equilibrium between polity, economy, and government; the deleterious effect of the laissez-faire heterodoxy that entrenched itself during the nineteenth century; and, the adverse reaction that occurred in the twentieth century. In turn, this article shifts its inquiry toward the internationalization of world financial markets as a guide for how United States industry can reclaim its patrimony: by encouraging a re-adoption of the eighteenth century model of the proper balance between government and commerce. Finally, using the example provided by the move toward an international financial market, this article concludes that …

Effects Of The Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement On The Eqity Value Of U.S. And Canadian Banks, Leonard Bierman, Donald R. Fraser, Amanda Adkisson

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This Article explains the effects of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement on the wealth position of shareholders of major U.S. and Canadian banks. Following the argument that stock prices in an efficient market should capture the effects of changes in regulation (both domestic and international), one would expect the prices of Canadian banks to decrease as they face substantial new competition. Likewise, the stock prices of U.S. banks operating in Canada should either rise or remain unchanged as a result of the FTA. If the greater power associated with Canadian operations is expected to add to risk-adjusted profits, stock …

Cartel In A Can: The Financial Collapse Of The International Tin Council, Sandhya Chandrasekhar

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Sovereign states that are members of international commodity organizations must bear responsibility for the actions taken by their cartels. Without the threat of legal action and punishment as a deterrent, member states have little incentive to properly administer the international trading organizations to which they belong. This Comment will first review the factual background of the International Tin Council and the court's decision in Maclaine Watson & Co. v. Department of Trade & Industry. It will then discuss the charges that the ITC administration was mismanaged. Lastly, it will analyze some legal bases that support a decision imposing member state …

The Role Of The Black Market In China's International Financial System, Amy E. Yates

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The dichotomy between China's political theory and its administrative reality is nowhere more apparent than in the system China has developed to manage the inflow of foreign reserves into the country. In order to avoid disturbing the domestic economy, the government developed an elaborate two-tiered currency system. In addition, the government issued a set of Foreign Control Regulations which placed restrictions on the use of exchange. The regulations purported to place the use of foreign exchange under a "unified national plan." In reality, however, beyond the reaches of the officially promulgated regulations, a thriving black market for foreign currency, foreign …

Was The Sigh Of Relief Premature? The Investment Canada Act, Susan D. Romer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On June 30, 1985 the Canadian Government enacted the Investment Canada Act (ICA), evoking a sigh of relief from the United States in vestment community. ICA replaced the Foreign Investment Review Act (FIRA). Burdensome Canadian regulations have impeded foreign investment in Canada throughout the last two decades. FIRA, in particular, blocked the free flow of foreign investment into Canada. In contrast, ICA's primary goal is "to encourage an inflow of capital and technology into Canada." As a result, United States investors have openly embraced ICA's arrival.

Once the initial euphoria wanes, however, and the United States investment community encounters ICA …

Legal Models For The International Regulation Of Exchange Rates, Joseph Gold

Michigan Law Review

No legal scholar has contributed more to the study of the harmonization of national interests by international agreement than Professor Eric Stein. This essay in his honor examines some of the efforts that have been made since the Bretton Woods Conference of July 1944 to bring order into the important international relationships that are called exchange rates. The subject has a further pertinence because of Eric Stein's work on the European Community. The law of the Community on exchange rates has been affected by the fortunes of the law of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Treaty of Rome relied …

A Labor View Of Industrial Policy, Henry B. Schechter

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article discusses the following topics: secular economic decline, factors in the loss of U.S. competitive position, foreign industrial policies, a labor-endorsed legislative proposal for an industrial policy, and supplementary measures that are required for a successful industrial policy.

Industrial Policy: Diverting Resources From The Winners, Edwin L. Harper, Lehmann K. Li Jr.

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article argues that the various forms of industrial policy currently being proposed are inappropriate for the United States (U.S.). They would fail not only on economic grounds, but on political grounds as well. The article outlines the appropriate role for government in the economy.

The Export-Import Bank Of The United States And South Africa: The Effects Of The Evans Amendment, Anthony N. Vance

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Evans Amendment is an example of legislation that had the opposite effect of that which was congressionally intended. The Amendment was designed as a compromise to keep the Eximbank in South Africa, but its effect has been the termination of Eximbank activity in that country.

The United States exporters that expected to be hurt by the termination of Bank activity have apparently been largely unaffected because of the availability of other financing sources, particularly within South Africa. As a result, foreign competitors with uninterrupted financing support from their own governments have failed to make significant inroads into the business …

Fraud In The International Transaction: Enjoining Payment Of Letters Of Credit In International Transactions, Stephen J. Leacock

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Sztejn principles present to issuing banks a perplexing dilemma in international letter of credit transactions. Issuing banks that have received notice of fraud in the underlying transaction may yet be presented with documents that apparently conform to the letter of credit requirements by a seller who is not a holder in due course. If the bank refuses payment and a court determines that the fraud was not sufficiently egregious, the bank will be liable for breach of contract between the bank and the seller. But if the bank relies on the doctrine of separation and pays the draft, and …

Recent Decisions, William W. Allen, Alexander A. Hassani, Peter A. Schuller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

INCOME TAX--LIQUIDATION OF FOREIGN CORPORATIONS--SHAREHOLDERS IN A LIQUIDATING FOREIGN CORPORATION MUST INCLUDE IN THE CORPORATION'S EARNINGS AND PROFITS ACCOUNT THE AMOUNT OF RECAPTURED EXCESS DEPRECIATION REALIZED UPON THE SALE OF ITS ASSETS

William W. Allen

CUSTOMS DUTIES--ANTIDUMPING ACT OF 1921--THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY HAS No AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE A WITH-HOLDING OF APPRAISEMENT PRIOR TO THE PUBLICATION OF A DUMPING FINDING BASED ON A LIKELIHOOD OF INJURY DETERMINATION BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

Alexander A. Hassani

INTERNATIONAL BANKING--BANKRUPTCY-FOREIGN BANKS NEITHER REGULATED BY NOR LICENSED To Do BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES MAY FILE FOR VOLUNTARY BANKRUPTCY UNDER THE NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A COMMENTARY ON THE FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW ACT

By Graeme C. Hughes

Toronto: Carswell, Ltd., 1975. Pp. 214. $20.65.

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THE EXPORT TRADE: THE LAW AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE By Clive M. Schmitthoff

6th ed. London: Stevens & Sons,Ltd., 1975. Pp. 461. $28.75.

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FOREIGN DISINVESTMENT BY U.S. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS: WITH EIGHT CASE STUDIES

By Roger L. Tourneden

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. Pp. 157. $15.00.

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THE GATT LEGAL SYSTEM AND WORLD TRADE DIPLOMACY

By Robert E. Hudec

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. Pp. 399, $25.00.

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS--GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS

By Jack N. Behrman, J.J. Boddeayn, & Ashok …

Legal Protection Of Loans To Developing Country Borrowers, Lajos Schmidt

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

At the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944, in introducing the proposal for what is today the World Bank, John Maynard Keynes predicted: "In the dangerous and precarious days which lie ahead, the risks of the lender will be inevitably large and most difficult to calculate. The risk premium reckoned on strict commercial principles may be beyond the capacity of an impoverished borrower to meet, and may itself contribute to the risks of ultimate default." Three decades later this problem of the gap between the developed-country lender's required risk premium and the developing-country borrower's ability to generate an investment return …

Emerging Neo-Mercantilism In Canadian Policy Toward State Enterprises And Foreign Direct Investment, Douglas F. Lamont

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Canadians have written many volumes about their relative inability to preserve their domestic economy from the deepening entanglements of American foreign investment. They cite such highly visible names as Exxon and General Motors for special notice since their Canadian subsidiaries dominate their respective local industries. Canadian nationalists fear that these firms as well as others from the United States will rejuvenate the now discredited continental thesis, which calls for the economic merger of Canada and the United States into one highly-integrated North American market. So uneasy are Canadians about potential American challenges to their sovereignty that they have resurrected mercantilistic …

International Lending: The Case For Developing Nations, Harold G. Maier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

As is peculiarly appropriate for any conference dealing with a rapidly developing and constantly changing area of international economic activity, both the speakers and the participants at this meeting raised more questions than were answered. A principal theme, illustrated by the papers reproduced here, was the need for careful consideration of the problem--legal and commercial-- involved in international lending on the basis of specific information concerning its effect, its promise and the needs involved. Generalizations concerning activities in developing countries are increasingly ineffective as guides to government or business policy or academic inquiry. Recent events in the Middle East confirm …

Foreign Banking In The United States, James A. Johnson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Foreign banking in the United States is no longer a nominal activity. The assets of foreign bank agencies and branches tripled from 1965 to 1972, increasing to approximately 13 billion dollars. During this same time, assets of United States banks abroad rose to 75 billion dollars-an eight-fold increase.

Yet, despite this dramatic growth--which surely will continue--the United States remains the only major country in which foreign banking is not supervised at the national level. No valid constitutional or practical reasons exist to support state control. Although New York and California, which share the major portion of foreign banking at the …

Toward Greater Flexibility In The Exchange Rate Regime Of The International Monetary Fund: The Widening Of The Band, Swadesh S. Kalsi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

It is a commendable achievement that, in the atmosphere of a war shattered world, it was at all possible to fashion an international currency system at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. Indeed, the International Monetary Fund represents a historic milestone in international cooperation. Since its inception at Bretton Woods, however, the international monetary system has been plagued by two major problems. First, the expanded use of trade constraints by countries following policies of full employment and internal price stability tends to foster a balance of payments disequilibrium; consequently, the present mechanism for adjustment is not satisfactory. Events after May …

The Foreign Direct Investment Regulations: Constitutional Questions And Operational Aspects Examined, Jeffrey G. Miller

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the constitutionality of the FDIR and similar regulations issued pursuant to section 5 (b), and comments upon the basic propriety and desireability of delegations of broad emergency powers to the President. The development of executive powers under section 5(b) will first be discussed with an eye toward determining, through the legislative history, congressional intent underlying the section. The role of judicial review of the exercise of executive emergency powers will be examined, followed by an analysis of the theory underlying the delegation of such powers to the President. Finally, the constitutional limitations on the emergency powers of …

International Agencies And The Capital Formation Process, Lester Nurick

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The theme of my address will be (a) the principal means by which the international public lending institutions (principally the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development--the World Bank), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)) join with others in the channeling of funds from private, governmental and other international sources for development projects, and (b) some of the main legal problems which arise.

An operation of this kind is usually called a joint financing operation. However, it should be noted that in a sense every loan by an international organization for …