Outline of International economic laws

I. Overview

a. Intl Economic law is how each government’s regulations affect the market. Its international law that seeks to limit/govern the ways governments can regulate trade.

II. WTO World Trade Organization (p.36)

a. Predecessor: GATT

i. After WWII, efforts to establish an “International Trade Organization” failed. GATT was supposed to be temporary until ITO was established, but ITO negotiations failed.

ii. The GATT 1947 took the place of the ITO.

iii. GATT requirements:

1. Most favored nation status (Article I)- you must give the same preferential treatment to all of the GATT nations.

2. Tariff bonding (Article II)- to bind tariffs below a level specified in the Schedule of Concessions. Certainty principle better for business if you know tariffs will not abruptly fluctuate?Applied tariff level is often below the bound tariff level

3. National treatment (Article III) – internal tax/regulations same as those applied to domestic products

iv. Eight rounds of multilateral trade negotiations occurred under GATT.

1. Geneva round (1947), Annecy round (1949), Torquay round (1950), Geneva round (1956), Dillon round (1960-1961), Kennedy round (1962-1967), Tokyo round (1973-1979), Uruguay round (1986-1994)

b. WTO is an agreement on the trade of IP rights that regulated how the member countries can implement their IP laws. It is an example of international laws regulating traditionally domestic areas.

c. It has 153 member countries (97% of global trade), and as created in 1995.

d. Governing Structure

i. Ministerial conference: top level decision making body; meets at least once every 2 years.

ii. General Counsel: (normally ambassadors and heads of delegation in Geneva, but sometimes officials sent from members’ capitals); meets several times a year in Geneva. The General Council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and the Dispute Settlement Body

iii. At the next level, Goods Council, Services Council, and Intellectual Property Council report to the General Council.

iv. Specialized committees, working groups, and working parties deal with individual agreements and other specialized areas.

III. WTO Agreements

a. Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization: an umbrella agreement; all other WTO agreements are annexed to this agreement.

b. Annex 1.

i. Annex 1a. Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods

1. GATT 1994 (see GATT requirements)

2. Agriculture

3. Sanitrary and Phytosanitary Measures

4. Textiles and Clothes (terminated Jan 2005)

5. Technical Barriers to Trade

6. Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)

7. Anti-dumping (Article VI of GATT 1994)

8. Pre-shipment Inspection

9. Rules of Origin

10. Import Licensing

11. Subsidiaries and Countervailing Measures

12. Safeguards

ii. Annex 1B. General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATs)

1. Services supplied from the territory of one party to the territory of another

2. Services supplied in the territory of one party to the consumer of any other, such as tourism

3. Services provided through the presence of service providing entities of one party in the territory of any other, such as banking

4. Services Provided like construction

5. Also contains national schedules of commitment regarding trade in services in specific sectors. Countries usually make commitments only for certain modes of services.

iii. Annex 1C. Trade-Related Aspects of IP Rights (TRIPs)

c. Annex 2. Dispute Settlement Understanding- one party can initiate a process by filing a claim.

d. Annex 3. Trade Policy Review Mechanism

e. Annex 4. Plurilateral Trade Agreements (only applies to the nations that sign)

i. Annex 4(a): Agreement on Trade in Civil aircraft

ii. Annex 4(b): Agreement on Government Procurement

iii. Annex 4(c): International Dairy Agreement (terminated in 1997)

iv. Annex 4(d): International Bovine Meat Agreement

IV. Preferential Trade Agreements (p. 40)

a. Customs Unions

i. Liberalize trade internally; also adopt a single external tariff and trade structure

ii. Examples: EU (also a political union), South African Customs Union

b. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)

i. Eliminate or reduce internal tariffs and other trade barriers between barriers, but don’t have uniform tariff levels for external trade. Each can make own.

ii. Examples:

1. Regional FTAs

a. NAFTA

b. ASEAN (p. 45)

c. The proposed Free Trade Area of Americas

2. Bilateral FTAs

a. US- Korea FTA

b. US- Colombia FTA

V. International Economic Forums

a. OECD

b. APEC

VI. Trade Institutions in the US (p. 48)

a. US Customs and Border Patrol (CP)

b. US Department of Commerce

i. International Trade Administration

1. Import Administration

2. Export Administration

c. US International Trade Commission

d. United States Trade Representative

e. US Court of International Trade (CIT)-

i. CIT has jurisdiction over all civil actions arising out of import transaction and has judicial review of final agency decisions on US trade laws.

Author: admin

Author: admin