International Trade Law Commons^™

Defragmenting World Trade, Sungjoon Cho

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The global trading community is in a state of deep crisis. Its main system, multilateralism, has recently been clogged by viscous trade barriers created by a proliferation of bilateral, regional trading blocs. Globalization offers a worldwide "production value chain" which enables even small economies to take part in the global commerce by offering raw materials or labor. In fact, small economies hold a comparative advantage at certain stages of the international manufacturing process.1 However, the current pattern of regional trading blocs militates against such participation by erecting new barriers against non-members and thus compartmentalizing the global market.2 This is not …

Islamic Principles Governing International Trade Financing Instruments: A Study Of The Morabaha In English Law, Jason C. T. Chuah

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The past years have seen a clear and incontrovertible rise in the use of international financial and commercial instruments expressed to be governed by Islamic principles. Banks and other commercial entities in Islamic and non-Islamic countries are increasingly aware of the commercial need to offer services which are specifically tailored to meet this sector of the international market. Disputes over the interpretation and application of such instruments invariably arise. English courts are not insulated from such disputes, given that the City of London is at the forefront of many international commercial and financial dealings. As a matter of law, the …

Taxing The International Athlete: Working Toward Free Trade In The Americas Through A Multilateral Tax Treaty, Jeffrey Dunlop

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

At first glance, it does not appear that taxation issues facing the international athlete and developing free trade between North and South America are closely related; they represent very different aspects of cross-border transactions and investment. On the other hand, they may be related when viewed as sequential steps in the process toward developing sustained economic relationships. This article will attempt to bridge that gap. First, Part II of this article discusses the current United States approach toward taxation of international athletes. Next, Part III reviews the history and issues facing tax treaty negotiations between the United States and developing …

Assuring The Flow: Maritime Security Challenges And Trade Between The U.S. And China, Joshua A. Lindenbaum

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Chapter 15 And The Advancement Of International Cooperation In Cross-Border Bankruptcy Proceedings, Bryan Stark

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

The Wto Internet Gambling Dispute As A Case Of First Impression: How To Interpret Exceptions Under Gats Article Xiv(A) And How To Set The Trend For Implementation And Compliance In Wto Cases Involving “Public Morals” And “Public Order” Concerns?, Albena P. Petrova

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, And Then…: An Evaluation Of The Correlation Between Policy Areas, Signing, And Legal Ratification Of Organization Of American States’ Treaties By Member States, Alexandra R. Harrington

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Rule-Based Dispute Resolution In International Trade Law, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

Why does the United States ever prefer to settle disputes under a system of rules rather than a system of negotiations? Powerful states are advantaged by negotiation-based approaches to settling disagreements because they have the resources to resolve individual disputes on favorable terms. By contrast, rule-based dispute resolution advantages weak states as a means to hold powerful states to the terms of their agreements. Then why did the United States want a rule-based system to settle international disputes in the WTO? To answer this question, we have to understand domestic politics as well as international politics. International constraints, particularly international …

Why States Create International Tribunals: A Theory Of Constrained Independence, Laurence R. Helfer

Faculty Scholarship

Over the last fifteen years, states have created more independent international tribunals, submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of such tribunals, and litigated disputes before such tribunals in increasing numbers. These developments appear to be inconsistent with principal-agent theory, which asserts states are rational actors jealous of their sovereignty and dubious of delegating authority to international institutions they cannot tightly control. However, such delegations of judicial authority actually serve state interests by enhancing credibility of international law commitments in specific multilateral settings. Having established such tribunals, however, states are concerned that independent judges operate within acceptable parameters. They thus establish a …

Aaron Peron Ogletree On A Brief History Of Neoliberalism By David Harvey. Oxford, Uk: Oxford University Press, 2005. 256 Pp., Aaron Peron Ogletree

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2005. 256 pp.

Investor-State Dispute Settlement Between Developed Countries: Reflections On The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, William S. Dodge

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will explore the extent to which China is in violation of its obligations under TRIPs. Section I surveys the current state of IPR infringement in China. Section II analyzes relevant TRIPs provisions, case law, and treaties that supplement TRIPs provisions. Section III analyzes Chinese criminal law, the December 2004 Judicial Interpretation of Chinese criminal law, and Chinese IP law as they pertain to IPR infringement. Section IV outlines enforcement efforts in China against the backdrop of the law analyzed in the previous section. Section V evaluates these enforcement efforts given China's capabilities and obligations, and Section VI concludes …

Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article begins with the premise that international law is the net result of global processes of interactions among state and non-state participants in the international system. The Article builds on the author’s previous work by proposing a theory of international law that fills the interstices between private and public international law. Participants generally deploy power and invoke legal and social norms in pursuit of interests and in response to the strategies of other participants. Eventually, outcomes that reflect both power and norms result, and these outcomes in turn modify norms and reallocate power. New outcomes then follow in future …

Traditional Knowledge And The Fight For The Public Domain, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 317 (2006), Doris E. Long

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

What are the challenges facing the protection of traditional knowledge internationally? Can the protection of such rights, which have traditionally existed outside the boundaries of intellectual property, be achieved in the face of current challenges to protections epitomized by such emerging international movements as enhanced access to information and culture as a human right? This article examines some of the emerging issues in this hotly contested area and suggests that such movements, which are not adverse to intellectual property and traditional knowledge rights, should be used to craft a new method for addressing the issue of traditional knowledge protection internationally.

The Cape Town Approach: A New Method Of Making International Law, Mark J. Sundahl

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The use of multilateral treaties in the field of international commercial law has been in a state of steady decline. Traditional treaty law has been gradually replaced in recent years by softer methods of making international law, such as the use of restatements and model laws. Some scholars even claim that treaty law is dead or dying. This Article explains how the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (which entered into force on March 1, 2006) provides an innovative approach to the creation of treaties that promises to revive the status of treaties in international law. The …

What Do We Owe Each Other In The Global Economic Order?: Constructivist And Contractualist Accounts, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

No legal system deserving of continued support can exist without an adequate theory of justice. A world trade constitution cannot credibly exist without a clear notion of justice upon which to base a consensus. This paper examines two accounts of fairness found in moral philosophy, those of John Rawls and Tim Scanlon. The Rawlsian theory of justice is well-known to legal scholars. Scanlon's contractualist account may be less well-known. The aim of the paper is to start the discussion as to how fairness theories can be used to develop the tools for examining international economic policies and institutions. After elaborating …

The Wto Agreement On Government Procurement And The Uncitral Model Procurement Law: A View From Outside The Region, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

Two of the most significant efforts to bring municipal procurement institutions up to international standards are the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services. Though the Model Law has had limited adoptions, it enjoys global influence as a source of norms and practices for good public procurement. The GPA, also reflective of international standards, seems to be on the rise, as more WTO members elect to become GPA contracting parties. This article explores two aspects of these instruments. First, the article explores how the Model Law promotes efficient public …

Tax Treaty Overrides: A Qualified Defence Of U.S. Practice, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Book Chapters

The ability of some countries to unilaterally change, or "override;' their tax treaties through domestic legislation has frequently been identified as a serious threat to the bilateral tax treaty network. In most countries, treaties (including tax treaties) have a status superior to that of ordinary domestic laws (see, e.g. France, Germany, the Netherlands). However, in some countries (primarily the US, but also to some extent the UK and Australia) treaties can be changed unilaterally by subsequent domestic legislation. This result clearly violates international law as embodied by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties ("VCLT"), which is recognized as …

Regulatory Purpose And 'Like Products' In Article Iii:4 Of The Gatt (With Additional Remarks On Article Iii:2), Donald H. Regan

Book Chapters

In EC-Asbestos the Appellate Body has told us that (l) in interpreting Article III:4 of the GATT, we must take explicit account of the policy in Article III: l that measures should not be applied "so as to afford protection to domestic production" [hereafter just "so as to afford protection"]. In Chile- Alcohol the Appellate Body has told us that (2) in deciding whether a measure is applied "so as to afford protection," we must consider "the purposes or objectives of a Member's legislature and government as a whole"- in other words, the regulatory purpose of the measure. Chile- Alcohol …

Editors' Note, Kelly Rain, Kirk Herbertson

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Confidence Through Compliance In Emissions Trading Markets, Joe Kruger, Christian Egenhofer

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Viewpoints On Compliance And Cross-Border Harmonization From Around The World, Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Third-Party Verification In Emissions Trading Systems: Developing Best Practices , Jennifer Rohleder

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Fair Trade For All: How Trade Can Promote Development By Joseph Stiglitz And Andrew Charlton , Maria Vanko

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Bilateralism Under The World Trade Organization, Y.S. Lee

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The establishment of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), which replaced the five decades of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") regime,' has significantly reinforced multilateral control over international trade on a global scale. As of October 2005, membership in the WTO has reached 148 nations, including the majority of former Soviet bloc and other communist countries,2 making the WTO the "United Nations of International Trade.",3 WTO disciplines have significant impact on world trade today; they have been enforced by the monitoring activities of various WTO bodies and by strengthened dispute resolution mechanisms. In addition, a significant number of …

Book Review. Companies, International Trade And Human Rights By Janet Dine, Christiana Ochoa

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This is a book review of Janet Dine's Companies, International Trade and Human Rights (2005). While this 9-page review is quite positive, it does offer some criticisms of Dine's analysis and views.

Labor As Property: Guestworkers, International Trade, And The Democracy Deficit, Ruben J. Garcia

Scholarly Works

In the 1914 Clayton Act, Congress declared: "The labor of a human being is not a commodity or an article of commerce." The practical reason for this section of the Clayton Act was to exempt collusion in labor negotiations from antitrust liability. The law also gave effect to the rejection of the commodification of human labor. Since the passage of the Clayton Act, developments in law and society have chipped away at the law's symbolic anti-commodification message. This paper examines the commodification of labor in the international trade and guestworker debates. Historically, the concept of "comparative advantage" in international trade …

Deconstructing The Mythology Of Free Trade: Critical Reflections On Comparative Advantage, Carmen Gonzalez

Faculty Articles

The theory of comparative advantage serves as the theoretical justification for the neoliberal economic reforms promoted by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and multilateral and regional free trade agreements. This article employs insights from both neoclassical and heterodox economics in order to critique the theory of comparative advantage as applied to the agricultural sector. In particular, the article takes aim at the illusory notion that eliminating distortions in international agricultural trade caused by the lavish agricultural subsidies of wealthy nations will be sufficient to “level the playing field” and promote prosperity in both developed and developing countries. The …

Transparency: An Analysis Of An Evolving Fundamental Principle In International Economic Law, Carl-Sebastian Zoellner

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will first sketch the theoretical underpinnings of transparency in an interdisciplinary overview of its possible meanings and advantages in the present context. It will then survey documents and instruments of international economic law in which language embracing the transparency principle is already present. The Note's main section proceeds to ask whether, in the actual application of those agreements, the transparency principle has had any notable impact on the interpretation of state obligations. Finally, in addressing transparency's future role in international economic law, this Note briefly discusses additional problems which might be resolved through a transparency-based approach.

International Environmental Law: 2006 Annual Report, Jane C. Luxton, Lakshman Guruswamy, Kevin L. Doran

Publications

No abstract provided.