Analysis of the Cultural Homeward Trend in International Trade Laws

This chapter discusses the ILA Resolution on International Trade Law and Human Rights as submitted by ILA's International Trade Law Committee (ITLC) to the 73rd ILA Conference at Rio de Janeiro and approved, in a duly revised and shortened text, by ILA in August 2008. As international trade and trade law are mere instruments for enabling citizens to satisfy human demand for scarce goods and services through mutually beneficial cooperation among citizens across frontiers, promoting mutual consistency of international trade law and human rights is important also for poverty reduction and for strengthening the moral and democratic legitimacy of international law. The ITLC proposals for elaborating an ILA Resolution on International Trade Law and Human Rights focused on legal and judicial remedies in the field of international trade, with due respect for diverse constitutional traditions regarding regulation of human rights and economic freedom in national and international trade law. Keywords: human rights; international law; International Law Association (ILA); international trade law; International Trade Law Committee (ITLC); Rio de Janeiro Declaration

This open access book examines how international trade agreements apply to domestic regulations on cross-border data flows and then proposes a multilayered framework to align international trade law with evolving norms and practices in global data governance. Digital trade and global data governance are at a unique crossroads, raising significant policy challenges. The book focuses on five policy areas at the interface of digital trade and global data governance: privacy, cybersecurity, governmental access to data, data divide, and competition. In five separate chapters, the book analyses how different types of domestic laws in each of these policy areas interface with existing provisions in international trade law. Thereafter, each of these chapters explores the challenges and possibilities for aligning international trade law with evolving norms, standards and best practices in that specific area of data regulation, both at the domestic and transnational level. Drawing upon these findings, the final chapter proposes a multilayered framework for aligning international trade law with evolving norms and practices in global data governance. The key message of the book is that international trade law can and should meaningfully align with and contribute to the development of transnational data governance norms and practices. It can also foster robust regulatory cooperation among various stakeholders of the digital economy. As the book offers a broad perspective on the significance of digital trade rules in a datafied world, it will benefit scholars, practitioners and policymakers working on digital trade and data regulation, helping its readers explore fresh avenues in the future development of digital trade rules. Studies in International Trade and Investment Law: Volume 31

Regulatory Space in International Investment Law and International Trade Law

International Trade and Investment Law and Carbon Management Technologies

This chapter addresses the relationship between international trade law and domestic laws regarding trade and commercial policy. It considers the negotiation of international agreements, including the evolution of trade promotion authority in the United States. It next considers the status of international trade law in domestic legal systems, including its relation to national law and the law of subsidiary governments. The analysis discusses the limited role of direct effect in international trade law, the importance of implementing legislation in many countries, and the implications for compliance with international trade law.

The research paper under review discusses the issues on international trade, investments, labour standards and environmental implications of economies in the context of the present global economic scenario, where World Trade Organization (WTO) is considered to be the international organization dealing with the dispute settlement mechanisms of various economies of the world, particularly, issues concerning international trade treaties, international trade investments, labour standards and environmental impact assessment issues of various countries in the globe. These issues are discussed at length. The paper also goes on to discuss and deliberate on issues pertaining to and linkages existing between various economies on free trade agreements (FTAs), bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. It is observed that signing of various international trade treaties among various economies, particularly between developing and developed countries would lead to serious economic repercussions both at the international/global and national/regional levels of these economies. The paper also studies the issue of WTO dispute settlement mechanism by taking the samples and sub-samples of various countries in this regard. It is seen that the developing countries are the worst affected so far as international trade agreements are concerned leading to jeopardise the economies of these countries. Therefore, these economies approach the WTO disputes settlement body for redressal of their grievances. The paper also highlights the linkages between trade and environment, trade and labour standards, international trade laws & extraterritorial applications of international trade laws. The international agreements on hazardous waste have also been discussed at length. Restricting exports of electronic waste (e-waste) is a major area of concern of this research paper. Data relating to the number of disputes settled by the WTO both benefiting the importing (developing) and exporting (developed) countries have also been reflected in the research paper. The paper makes out the fact that the Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) and the undeveloped countries do not have proper international trade, labour & environmental laws. As a result, they are always outcompeted by the developed nations who have organised international trade, labour & environmental laws. It is seen that the United States is the developed country, transmitting maximum e-hazardous wastes to various developing countries, thereby, creating serious environmental hazards for the developing countries particularly Asian & African countries. Though the Basel Convention and Article XX of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/WTO has provision for protecting the developing and the underdeveloped countries through its extraterritorial coverage, but the United States is not a member of the Basel Convention. Moreover, the international agreements cover the broader issue of hazardous waste, and not particularly the e-waste discussed in this research paper. Thus, it can be safely concluded that developed countries like the United States and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development should becovered/included in the Basel Convention and the Article XX on extraterritorial/trans boundaries should be implemented by WTO, the international dispute settlement organisation, to provide relief to the underdeveloped and developing countries on the above issues/areas. This would definitely go a long way in increasing world trade, Gross Domestic Product, employment, implementing better labour laws/standards cleaner/greener environment in the underdeveloped and the EMEs, particularly the Asian economies.

Animal welfare has become firmly established as a serious, important matter in the trade-law arena. That is helping to move forward the creation of international law that takes animal welfare seriously. Animals need effective transnational laws to protect them. Globalization has created a governance gap. Domestic law, which is weak anyway on animal protection, cannot adequately respond to the many international challenges in animal protection. International trade law is part of the problem, but it is also part of the solution. More globalization may mean more suffering for animals, but it does not have to. Transnational forms of governance and law can also provide the tools that are needed to build effective global animal law. The international trade regime is an important part of this picture. It can be the crucible for developing consensus-based, concrete, workable and enforceable international legal principles on animal welfare.

This chapter reviews the interactions between international trade law and environmental protection. It begins by explaining how trade and environmental protection are physically interlinked, before offering an account of the evolution of the trade and environment debate. The chapter then examines the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and trade, followed by an analysis of questions that have arisen in assessing the compatibility of environmental measures with trade law. International trade law may have a ‘chilling effect’ on the adoption or effective implementation of international environmental agreements. Conversely, environmental policies employing trade restrictions can become ‘green protectionism’ and even ‘eco-imperialism’. The chapter explores two emerging developments of relevance for the trade and environment debate, including the rise of regional trade agreements and the growing importance of climate change-related disputes. It concludes with a critical assessment of the prospects for strengthening coherence between international environmental and trade law.

Can trade liberalization serve the cause of political liberalization in authoritarian states? In this short essay, I suggest that trade law might bolster political freedoms by liberalizing Internet trade. Trade law puts pressure on state repression of information through two principal mechanisms. First, GATS transparency obligations require what is often absent in authoritarian states – a set of public rules that governs both citizens and governmental authorities. WTO member states must publish regulations governing services and establish inquiry points where foreign service providers can obtain information about such regulations. A publication requirement written for the benefit of foreigners may prove even more useful for local citizens, who will be given the opportunity to understand the rules that bind them – and the opportunity therefore to challenge those rules or their interpretation. Second, the market access and national treatment commitments provide opportunities for foreign information service providers to disseminate information that local information service providers might eschew. While censorship by itself may not necessarily constitute either a market access or a national treatment violation, it might do so if it is operationalized in ways that effectively discriminate against foreign service providers.

The idea that corporations should be taxed in the jurisdiction where they make their sales or provide their services is getting more and more attention in the policy debate on international taxation. In 2016, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan proposed to introduce a destination-based cash flow tax (DBCFT) in order to reform the United States’ corporate income tax (CIT). Moreover, in the last few years, more and more countries have considered the adoption of new rules to tax the digital economy in the country where the users and/or the consumers are located.These proposals differ from traditional direct taxes imposed on corporations. They borrow from the tax design of indirect taxes, such as sales taxes or value added taxes. Consequently, it is difficult to predict whether these sui generis destination-basedtaxes will fit in with superior legal provisions, in particular international tax and trade law. One recurring legal argument against destination-based taxes is that they are likely to violate the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO).Using the DBCFT as a case study, this Article will assess the different conflicts that could arise between new types of destination-based taxes and international trade law. Based on a critical approach informed by the analysis of the history and case law surroundingdestination-based taxes, this Article concludes that the likelihood that a DBCFT would be found incompatible with international trade law is much lower than past legal scholars have concluded. WTO law does not in itself prevent countries from adopting such taxes. Since this conclusion could be extended by analogy to other, new types of destination-basedtaxes, this Article could have important implications for policymakers who are willing to move towards taxation in the country of destination.

Don’t Blame It on WTO Law: An Analysis of the Alleged WTO Law Incompatibility of Destination-Based Taxes

This Chapter is devoted to a discussion of the harmonization of trade laws which is a central issue in international trade. It examines, first, the desirability of international harmonization of substantive, domestic laws on international trade; secondly, the concept and the various means of harmonization or unification encompassing both—the legislative and non-legislative means like the international conventions, model laws, legislative guides, uniform rules of practice, codification and restatements of general principles; finally, the efforts directed toward achieving harmonization of trade laws at international level by states, international organizations like United Nations Commission on International Trade Laws (UNCITRAL), and International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT); professional bodies and trade associations like International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The analysis of WTO law and the key disputes in ‘trade and tax’ field leads to interesting findings. The relationship between international trade law and domestic tax laws is not easy. First, the emerging picture is the difficulty of the trade regulatory framework and the jurisprudence to draw a clear line between what is permitted and what is not. Legal uncertainty is the word. This uncertainty has its root in the complexity of both domestic tax laws and the legal standards of trade law. Secondly, trade law often significantly impacts on governments’ sovereignty. In a globalized world, this is inevitable. Thirdly, there is an evolution in how trade has had to deal with taxation. The focus has shifted from the traditional cases of favouritism, discrimination and protectionism to more difficult issues connected to key challenges of our times – tax avoidance, level playing field, competitiveness, carbon leakage, the digitization of the economy. More recently, even national security has added to the mix. This complexity in the ‘trade and tax’ relationship raises fundamental questions about the limited role trade law can play in solving taxation issues. The article claims that trade law can only offer partial solutions to key tax issues. By nature, trade law is more suited to regulate specific instances where tax is used as a tool of protection rather than systemic problems arising from the differences in domestic taxation and the lack of established rules to regulate new phenomena like digital services, for which multilateral tax treaties are the first-best.

International Trade Law: Problems, Cases, and Materials

Who governs in the international organizations (IOs) that promulgate global norms on trade and commercial law? Using a new analytic approach, this paper focuses on previously invisible attributes of a global legislature – the state and non‐state delegations and delegates that create universal norms for international trade and commercial law through the most prominent trade law legislature, the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Based on ten years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and unique data on delegation and delegate attendance and participation in UNCITRAL's Working Group on Insolvency, we find that the inner core of global trade lawmakers at UNCITRAL represent a tiny and unrepresentative subset of state and non‐state actors. This disjunction between UNCITRAL's public face, which accords with a global norm of democratic governance, and its private face, where dominant states and private interests prevail, raises fundamental questions about legitimacy and efficacy of representation in global lawmaking.