In May 1955, the UN Secretary-General circulated to States and NGOs a draft convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.2 He invited comments and queried States on the desirability of an international conference to conclude such a convention. The United States was one of three responding countries (with Canada and South Africa) to decline interest in such a conference.3 Although the United States ultimately attended what became the 1958 New York Conference, its participation was minimal. It did not seek to influence the text of the draft convention, focusing instead on alternatives to a multilateral convention for arbitration.4 After the conference, the US delegation urged the US government not to join the resulting New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.5 The delegation was partly motivated by federalism concerns, hesitant to use the treaty power to override US State laws and judicial procedures.6 The delegation also worried that the convention could allow arbitrating parties to escape the control of US law and the supervision of US courts.7 And the delegation considered the convention unnecessary, as the US trading community had neither sought such a convention nor proclaimed its benefits.8 Accepting the delegation’s recommendation, for a decade the US government declined to sign the New York Convention or send it to the US Senate for advice and consent to ratification.9