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Foreign, Comparative & International Law

U.S. Government & Law

U.S. Government and Law

U.S. Government

Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration - The ITA's Enforcement and Compliance unit enhances ITA’s responsibilities to enforce U.S. trade laws and ensure compliance with trade agreements negotiated on behalf of U.S. industry.  "The ITA's function is to assess claims of a substantive unfair trade practice--i.e. to determine whether there has been a countervalailable subsidy or a sale a less than fair value (dumping.")  Nutshell p. 152-3.

U.S. International Trade Commission - The mission of the Commission is to (1) administer U.S. trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner; (2) provide the President, USTR, and Congress with independent analysis, information, and support on matters of tariffs, international trade, and U.S. competitiveness; and (3) maintain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).  It deals with trade dumping.  "The ITC has a separate responsibility to assess causation and injury issues--i.e., to determine whether a practice has substantially caused or threatens to cause material injury to a domestic injury."  Nutshell p. 153.

Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)  - Premier export regulator.  Source for regulations governing exports and country lists.

Imports are governed by a variety of legislation described in chapter 3 of International Trade and Economic Relations in a Nutshell belowTrade remedies such as anti-dumping responses are found in chapter 4.  Exports depend primarily on regulation (see BIS above), but a description of the law is found in chapter 5 of the nutshell.  

Office of the US Trade Representative - Trade Agreements - USTR has principal responsibility for administering U.S. trade agreements. This involves monitoring our trading partners' implementation of trade agreements with the United States, enforcing America's rights under those agreements, and negotiating and signing trade agreements that advance the President's trade policy. Click here for a list of free trade agreements.

The United States is Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement) sets out rules governing trade among the WTO's 154 members. The United States and other WTO Members are currently engaged in Doha Development Round of world trade talks, and a strong, market-opening Doha agreement for both goods and services would be an important contribution to addressing the global economic crisis and helping to restore trade's role in leading economic growth and development.

The United States has free trade agreements (FTAs) in effect with 17 countries. These FTAs build on the foundation of the WTO Agreement, with more comprehensive and stronger disciplines than the WTO Agreement. Many of our FTAs are bilateral agreements between two governments. But some, like the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, are multilateral agreements among several parties.

Another important type of trade agreement is the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. TIFAs provide frameworks for governments to discuss and resolve trade and investment issues at an early stage. These agreements are also a means to identify and work on capacity-building where appropriate.

The United States also has a series of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) help protect private investment, develop market-oriented policies in partner countries, and promote U.S. exports.

Finding International Governmental Organizations

Finding International Governmental Organizations

Suggested Title (eBook)

Suggested Book Titles

Major Reporters & News Services

Major Reporters & News Services

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law

Trade Topics in the Max Planck Encyclopedia

  • Commodities, International Regulation of Production and Trade
  • Customs Law, International
  • European Free Trade Zone
  • Exclusive Economic Zone
  • Fair and Equitable Treatment
  • Financial Institutions, International
  • Free Trade of the Americas
  • Free Trade Agreements
  • General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (1947 & 1999)
  • General Agreement on Trade in Services (1994)
  • Goods, Free Circulation of
  • International Economic Law
  • International Monetary Fund
  • International Trade Center (UNCTAD/WTO)
  • Investment Disputes
  • Investments, Bilateral Treaties
  • Investments, International Protections
  • Kimberly Process
  • Monetary Law, International
  • Most-Favored Nation Clause
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
  • National Treatment, Principle
  • New International Economic Order
  • Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade
  • North American Free Trade Agreement (1992)
  • North American Free Trade Agreement, Case Law
  • North American Free Trade Agreement, Dispute Settlement
  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
  • Organization for Petroleum Exporting Organizations
  • Regional Trade Agreements
  • Rules of Origin
  • Sanctions
  • Services, Trade in
  • Subsidies, International Restrictions
  • Taxation International
  • Technical Barriers to Trade
  • Technology Transfer
  • Tourism
  • Trade and Culture
  • Trade and Human Rights
  • Trade and Labour Standards
  • Trading with the Enemy
  • Transit Goods over Foreign Territory
  • Uniform Sales Law
  • United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITAL)
  • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
  • Uruguay Round
  • World Bank Group
  • World Customs Organization (WCO)
  • World Trade Organization, Dispute Settlement
  • World Trade Organization, Enforcement System
  • World Trade Organization (WTO)
  • World Trade, Principles

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