International Trade Law Commons^™

The Theory Of Preferential Trade Agreements: Historical Evolution And Current Trends, Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Arvind Panagariya

Faculty Scholarship

The theory of preferential trade agreements (Pf A's), or what might be described in policy terms as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV sanctioned freetrade areas (FTA's) and Customs Unions (CU's), has undergone two phases of evolution, in two very different modes, largely reflecting the contrasting policy concerns of the time. In this paper, we trace this evolution, offering both a historical context and an intellectual coherence to diverse analytical approaches.

Analysis Of The U.S. Regulations Of Derivatives: Does The Use Of Such Complicated Instruments Pose A Serious Threat To The Safety And Soundness Of The U.S. Banking System?, Erwin De Deyn

LLM Theses and Essays

In the last fifteen years, the globalization of financial markets and institutions along with innovative investment strategies have caused an irreversible revolution in the world’s financial markets. Investors and managers can now use new instruments, such as derivatives, for guarding against financial risks. Derivatives are financial instruments whose returns are derived from other assets or variables, like futures and options. The growth of derivative markets has accelerated rapidly in the last ten years, which has caused financial markets in the United States and throughout the world to be more efficient, which contributes to economic welfare. However, the dramatic growth in …

Sovereignty, Economic Integration, And The World Trade Organization, Susan Hainsworth

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Economic integration is altering the role of the state and the concept of sovereignty in international law. Intensifying economic interdependence has rendered sovereignty almost meaningless for an isolated state. However, the transfer and pooling of sovereignty in a jointly designed and mutually acceptable legalistic international institution allows state interests to be both respected and represented at the international level. After addressing the European Union model for managing advanced economic integration, the paper examines the extent to which the legal and institutional attributes of the new World Trade Organization represents a move towards a more legalistic international trade order, entailing a …

Privatization At The Crossroad Of Latvia's Economic Reform, Sandra Berzups

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Latvia regained its independence from the former Soviet Union in August 1991. Since then, it has begun the slow and arduous path of replacing the centrally-planned, socialist system with an economic structure based on free-market principles. Latvia began this transition "in a difficult environment characterized by macroeconomic imbalances inherited from four decades of central planning and disruptions caused by a sharp contraction of trade with Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union."

Apec As A New Model Of Regional Economic Cooperation: Compatibility With Gatt, Bing Ding

LLM Theses and Essays

Today’s driving forces in world trade are private trade, investment flows, technological progress, and job creation. These forces create momentum towards the further integration of economy within their respective regions. The challenge for governments today is to reinforce these trends in favor of long-term economic benefits, while resisting the temptation to make short-term adjustments for growth. Regionalism is being considered as a solution to contemporary international economic problems; with the division of the world into the three major trading blocs of the EC, NAFTA, and APEC, regionalism seems to be the fastest road to multilateral free trade. This paper proposes …

U.S. Practices In Risk Assessment And Risk Management For Product Safety Under Article 2.2 Of The Agreement On Technical Barriers To Trade, Suckhong Ko

LLM Theses and Essays

Article 2.2 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) was applied to the GATT member countries in 1995. This article provides national product safety agencies with requirements for risk assessment and risk management. However, the terms used in the article are broad and open to interpretation. This paper argues that vast discretion and broad terms cannot solve technical barriers effectively; the “minimum requirements” standard within Article 2.2 of the TBT fails to consider those countries whose technology in product safety is inferior to that of developed countries. The United States has some of the strongest product safety measures, …

Foreign Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa: How Changing Attitudes Have Affected The Legal Environment In The Post Cold War Era, Joel Waswa Kisubika

LLM Theses and Essays

In Sub-Saharan Africa, like many other third world and former Soviet bloc countries, economic development policies revolve around raising the standard of living for their people. Therefore, they are seeking different ways to attract investment, trade, technology, and jobs. The movement towards attracting foreign investment has been paralleled by democratic political reforms and economic liberalization of previously autocratic and restrictive systems. These reforms have been enacted, mostly at the insistence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in order to deal with the severe foreign debt situation and improve Sub-Saharan Africa’s opportunities for attracting foreign investment. This paper …

Authority, Community And The Civil Law Commentary: An Example From German Competition Law, David J. Gerber

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Liberalization Of India’S Trade And Investment Policies: Pitfalls And Advantages For U.S. Firms Doing Business In India, Sanjiv Verma

LLM Theses and Essays

A rich history of trade and commerce ties America to India. This paper examines the contemporary trade issues between America and India, particularly in light of recent economic reforms in India. It inquires into and analyzes the various advantages India can provide for US businesses as a foreign investment destination. Various barriers to trade between these two nations are identified, such as tariff and nontariff barriers, quota restrictions, and infrastructural and social barriers. This paper gives a brief overview of some of the recent economic policy changes in India, suggests legislative and policy improvements required to attract more US investments …

Aviation Law And Regulation: Abridged Student Edition, Robert M. Hardaway, Paul Stephen Dempsey, William E. Thoms

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

We sought to write a comprehensive reference book for aviation lawyers and practitioners, and airline and aircraft manufactuing executives in need of vital information regarding law and government regulation in the field of commercial and general aviation. We envision this book as an aid for the neophyte and experienced practitioner alike.

Toward A Sustainable Maine : The Politics, Economics, And Ethics Of Sustainability, Richard Barringer (Ed.)

Maine Collection

Toward A Sustainable Maine : The Politics, Economics, and Ethics of Sustainability

Richard Barringer, editor, Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern Maine

Edmund S. Muskie Institute of Public Affairs, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, 1993.

The proceedings of a conference presented at Bowdoin College on March 19 and 20, 1993, by the Edmund S. Muskie Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Southern Maine, and by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Ellen Baum, conference organizer.

Contents; Foreword by Richard Barringer / Welcome by Everett Carson / Global, Canadian, and Maine Perspectives / Sustaining Our Natural and …

Challenges To The Doctrine Of Free Trade, Jagdish N. Bhagwati

Faculty Scholarship

The doctrine of free trade is facing new challenges today. As one surveys the policy arena, questions are raised about free trade by those who worry about Japan (and today this includes many more than the "revisionists") and who argue that free trade with Japan is not gainful. Several environmentalists as well oppose free trade with passion. These concerns relate to what now is called the absence of "level playing fields": "fair trade" as a precondition of free trade is the battle cry.

There is also the fear that free trade, even if efficient, hurts the unskilled and thus immiserizes …

Keiretsu: Their Effect On Business And How American Government And Business Can Confront Them, Jonathan E. Johnson Iii

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

African Economic Community And The Promotion Of Intra-African Trade, Muna Ndulo

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Aviation Law And Regulation, Robert M. Hardaway, Paul Stephen Dempsey, William E. Thoms

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

We sought to write a comprehensive reference book for aviation lawyers and practitioners, and airline and aircraft manufactuing executives in need of vital information regarding law and government regulation in the field of commercial and general aviation. We envision this book as an aid for the neophyte and experienced practitioner alike.

Airlines, Airports And Antitrust: A Proposed Strategy For Enhanced Competition, Robert M. Hardaway, Paul Stephen Dempsey

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Most of this country's major airports are monopolies or duopolies at which one or two dominant carriers control a high percentage of terminal facilities. Airlines have used this market power to raise fares on flights originating and terminating at such airports. Although this power has been gained in part through the process of buy-outs and mergers in the airline industry itself, it has also been gained through actions taken in concert with airport authorities, such as when agreements are entered into that effectively limit the availability of airport facilities to new entrants and other competitors. Airlines, by virtue of rights …

Impractibility, Mutual Mistake And Related Contractual Bases For Equitably Adjusting The External Debt Of Sub-Saharan Africa, Jon H. Sylvester

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

At the end of 1988, the combined external indebtedness of the third world' (referred to below as less developed countries or "LDCs") was estimated at nearly $1.3 trillion.2 In the same year, the United Nations agency United Nations International Childrens' Emergency Fund ("UNICEF") attributed the deaths of 650,000 children in LDCs to re-duction in basic living standards caused by diversion of resources to servicing external debt.3 Some experts say prospects for solving this huge and growing problem are actually growing worse due to "debt fatigue."

More Lessons From Japan: End Industrywide Collective Bargaining?, Robert H. Lande, Richard O. Zerbe Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

The number of books and articles discussing Japanese management techniques with an eye to transplanting them to the United States is staggering. Americans understandably are impressed by Japanese efficiency and like to think the adoption of some of their techniques will aid our own industries. Often these proposals seem fanciful and fail to recognize the many differences between the two countries, their economic systems and cultures.

Intellectual Property In International Trade: Opportunities And Risks Of A Gatt Connection, J. H. Reichman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Reichman uncovers a paradox at the heart of the debate about bringing international intellectual property relations within a GATT Code of Conduct. On the one hand, the industrialized countries that subscribe to free-market principles at home want to impose a highly regulated market for intellectual goods on the rest of the world, one in which authors and inventors may "reap where they have sown." On the other hand, the developing countries that restrict free competition at home envision a totally unregulated world market for intellectual goods, one in which "competition is the lifeblood of commerce." To unravel this paradox, …

United States International Competitiveness And Trade Policies For The 1980s, Dan Quayle

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

A new wave of protectionism is upon us and its undertow, if not the wave itself, constitutes a serious threat to the Western alliance. This "neo-protectionism" differs from familiar past practices relying heavily on higher tariffs; it is more often charactierized by the use of more subtle ploys such as dumping, subsidization, and the erection of difficult marketing requirements for foreign traders.

Subsidies, Countervailing Duties And Antidumping After The Tokyo Round, John J. Barceló Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Is Somebody "Crying Wolf"?: An Assessment Of Whether Antitrust Impedes Export Trade, John Will Ongman

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The impact of the United States antitrust laws on American exports has in recent years become a controversial issue, especially in view of the increasing U.S, trade deficit. In this article, Mr. Ongman employs economic analysis to determine the desirability of a protectionistic Sherman Act. He concludes that such a policy, resulting in foreign retaliation and spillover into the domestic market, would be unwise.

Zenith Radio Corp V. United States: The Demise Of Congressionally Mandated Countervailing Duties, Robert Dziubla

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The countervailing duty has long been a favorite tool of the Congress to achieve what it considers to be fair trade between the United States and her trading partners. Countervailing duties are extra duties imposed upon goods that enjoy subsidies, in whatever form, from a foreign government. In Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States, the Supreme Court agreed with the Department of Treasury that a remission by the Government of Japan of a domestic indirect commodity tax upon electronic goods was not a subsidy requiring a countervailing duty. This Note will suggest that the Court's dependence upon the legislative history …

The Future Of Free Enterprise: Can It Survive Government Interventionism?, Baron Edmond De Rothschild

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Free enterprise is the indispensable prerequisite for personal freedom, which I dare believe is still highly valued by most people. Hence, it is also the only economic system which is compatible with the democratic governments of Europe and America. However, the vitality of free enterprise is being threatened by government interventionism on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, this manifests itself in taxation, nationalization, restrictive policies, subsidization, labor laws, and the growth of the public sector. In America, we find much of the same, excepting nationalization. In order to restore vigor to the weakened private sector, we must return …

The Search For A Viable Foreign Economic Policy, Frank Church

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

United States foreign policy is, to a great degree, influenced by the performance of the international economy. This fact was brought home with dramatic force in 1973, when Arab oil-producing countries suddenly quadrupled the price of oil. That abrupt increase in price, followed by the Arab oil embargo, nearly crippled the economies of the industrial nations of the west. The recent political upheaval in Iran and its affect on the world oil supply is only another poignant example of the extent to which the performance of the American economy, which obviously includes our national and multinational business enterprises, is intimately …

The Retroactive Application Of The Antidumping Act Of 1921, Thomas E. Johnson

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In 1921, the United States Congress enacted the Antidumping Act which provides for the imposition of dumping duties on imports sold to United States merchants at prices below their fair value. The Act permits the assessment of dumping duties retroactively on merchandise imported up to one hundred and twenty days before a complaint of dumping has been filed with the Commissioner of Customs. Mr. Johnson examines the retroactive provisions of the Act and its regulations, the case law surrounding those provisions, and the constitutionality of the provisions. Against this background, he concludes that the retroactive application of the Act, particularly …

United States Foreign Trade Policy: A Delicate Balancing Act, Robert S. Strauss

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

World trade today involves one-sixth of everything that is grown or manufactured on this planet. Translated into dollars, this amounted to a value last year of one trillion dollars. Of this amount, $150 billion belongs to American agriculture and industry. The enormous stake of the United States in maintaining and encouraging the growth of its exports has led the present Administration to chart an enlightened and courageous trade policy of promoting free and fair trade. Rather than take the politically expedient course of protectionism, this Administration has embarked on the course of lowering barriers to fair trade to ensure the …

Subsidies And Countervailing Duties--Analysis And A Proposal, John J. Barceló Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The author recommends a new scheme for regulating the use of government subsidies and countervailing duties in international trade, an area presently regulated by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. He contends that these rules should be based to a large extent on principles of free trade and economic efficiency. In addition to setting out proposed regulations, the author analyzes the strength and weaknesses of free trade theory and of the present GATT rules regarding subsidies and countervailing duties.

Economic Integration In East Africa: Distribution Of Gains, Robert Birmingham

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Non-Tariff Import Restrictions: Remedies Available In United States Law, Craig Mathews

Michigan Law Review

Since World War II, a fundamental objective of the foreign policy of the United States has been to strengthen political and economic relationships among free-world nations. An integral element of this policy has been the expansion of international trade on mutually beneficial terms. The legal and practical problems of reducing or eliminating restrictions on the international movement of commodities have therefore assumed a major importance.

International commodity transactions have traditionally been subject to a wide range of such restrictions. In the case of imports, the most familiar barriers are tariffs and formal quotas or embargoes imposed by national governments. In …