Law and Institutions of International Trade

MGT 3860Z

Fall 2006

Daryl Hanak

Administrative Issues

GradingMidterm

o October 20o 2 hours o Combination of fill in the blanks, multiple-choice, short answer

o Open booko 20% of Final Grade

Administrative Issues – Grading (con’t)

Term Papero Due November 24o Approx. 2,500-3,500 words (plus end notes,

bibliography, etc.)o E-mail submission OK, hardcopy preferred -- same

deadlineo 30% of Final Gradeo Term paper topics is circulated to stimulate thinkingo feel free to talk to me about other ideas as well (the

earlier the better)o Coherent, original thoughto Give credit to sources

Writing Style Guides

"The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing" by Michael Harvey -- http://www.nutsandboltsguide.com/nb-home.htmlMLA Style (website) -- http://www.mla.org/styleAPA Style (website) -- http://www.apastyle.org/The Chicago Manual of Style (website) -- http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/

Administrative Issues – Grading (con’t)

Final Examo Friday, December 15 @ 5:00pm (TBC)o 3 hourso Combination of multiple-choice, short answer, o open booko 40%o will cover entire course, not just the stuff after the midterm

Administrative Issues – Grading (con’t)

Written Assignmentso Two 250-400 word notes -- be economical and precise

o due at the end of the class September 29 and November 10. You will have one week to complete.

o Altogether, they will make up 10% of final gradeo discussing a particular topic, issue, fact situation o Accuracy is important, but there will also be a focus on writing a clear and concise piece of work.

o not looking for a heavily footnoted piece of work, but rather a short “memo” that is written as if you were trying to explain something to your boss or colleague at work.

o May also be useful prep for exams and paper

Administrative Issues – Grading -- Summary

MidtermOctober 20, 20%

Term PaperNovember 24, 30%

Written AssignmentsTwo in the year (September 29, November 10), 10%

FinalDecember 15 [TBC], 40%

Administrative Issues (con’t)

Make-up Classes?

Administrative Issues (con’t)

Readings & ResourcesClass WebsiteNo required text, but

o Hill, Charles WL., Global Business Today (4th ed), McGaw-Hill/Irwin (2006). ISBN 0-07-297371-4

o August, Ray, International Business Law – Texts, Cases abd Readings (4th ed.) Pearson Education Inc. (2004). ISBN 0-13-101410-2

o Jackson, John H., The World Trading System: Law and Policy of International Economic Relations, (2nd ed.)

.

Administrative Issues – Readings & Resources (con’t)

Handouts in Classo hard copies of miscellaneous, relevant articles, copies of texts of agreements and other materials.

o reference to material available online, of which there is a great deal, particularly texts of agreements and treaties.

Administrative Issues – Readings & Resources (con’t)

Online Sources (eg)o World Trade Organization

www.wto.org

o International Trade Canada (ITCan) http://www.itcan-cican.gc.ca/menu-en.asp

o United States Trade Representative (USTR) www.ustr.gov

o Concept Mapping http://cmap.ihmc.us/

Administrative Issues – Readings & Resources (con’t)

Journals/Periodicalso Inside US Tradeo International Trade Reportero Journal of World Trade

Administrative Issues – Readings & Resources (con’t)

Other bookso Trebilcock, Michael J. and Robert Howse, The Regulation of International Trade (2nd ed.)

o Hart, Michael, A Trading Nation: Canadian Trade Policy from Colonialism to Globalization

o Matsushita; Schoenbaum; Mavroidis; The World Trade Organization: Law, Practice, and Policy

o Kennedy; Southwick (eds), The Political Economy of International Trade Law

o Jones, Kent, Who’s Afraid of the WTO

Administrative Issues (con’t)

Contact informationo Daryl HanakInternational Trade CounselAlberta Ministry of International and Intergovernmental Relations12th floor, Commerce PlaceEdmonton

o E-mail: daryl.hanak@gov.ab.ca; dhanak@shaw.ca; daryl.hanak@uleth.ca

o phone: 780.422.1339 (office/work); 780.473.4910 (home)

Administrative Issues (con’t)

Class Communicationso Prefer e-mail, office hours on requesto University of Lethbridge has an e-mail distribution list for each class, I found that to be an effective way of getting information to everyone. Please check your e-mail.

o Questions/Answers relevant to the rest of the class, will be distributed to all

o Slides distributed by emailo Possible web/electronic distribution of documents

Class OutlineSubject to change, depending on particular interests

Focus is on the World Trade Organization and the NAFTA. They will be a strong Canadian/Alberta perspective. But US will also figure quite highly.

Trade cases that have Alberta connection – eg. softwood lumber, etc. to illustrate some of the principles involved in international trade regulation, with other significant cases.

WTO negotiations are ongoing, and we will try to put those negotiations into some context, and keep informed about progress in the WTO.

New vocabulary, acronyms.

My background is Government, but we will look at some practical considerations.

Class Outline (con’t)

What is international trade?We will look at the trade in goods, services as well as investment.

1. Goods o Trade in physical goods is where most of the laws were

originally conceived.

2. Serviceso Services trade has been growing at a greater rate than trade

in goods recently, and electronic transactions have made international trade and services much simpler and cheaper.

3. Investmento Investment is another way for companies interested in selling

their goods abroad to get into foreign markets. There are basic rules that have been negotiated between countries on the treatment of foreign investment.

Class Outline (con’t)

Why international trade and international trade regulation?

Economic theorieso Mercantilismo Liberalismo Adam Smitho Comparative advantage

Historical contexto Fur Trade to WTO 2005o Bretton Woods Organizations

Class Outline (con’t)

Laws related to international tradeo we will look at both the domestic laws and the international laws that govern or affect international trade.

Domestic Lawso Domestic laws are the laws that are passed by either Canadian federal government, the US Congress or the government of the states and provinces, and even municipalities and delegated regulatory authorities.

o The governance of trade extends to regulations, policies, and procedures (altogether referred to as “measures”)

Class Outline (con’t)

"International law"no international parliament or Congress or legislative body to pass laws to govern international trade, nor are there international trade "courts" that can truly enforce rulings on countries.

Multilateral trade treaties (primarily the agreements in the World Trade Organization WTO and in the North American Free Trade Agreement).

We will also consider bilateral or regional trade and investment treaties that Canada participates in. These are not necessarily "laws" in the sense of domestic laws, but they are agreements which countries are bound by.

When we consider "international Law" that governs international trade, we should also consider some of the international efforts to harmonize laws and commercial transactions (eg. Shipping terms, international contracts).

Class Outline (con’t)

Institutions Related to International Tradeo Created by either the domestic law governing

international trade or by the international treaties that countries negotiate amongst themselves.

Domestico In Canada, we have the Canadian Customs and Revenue

Agency which applies and enforces the tariffs and duties that Canada charges on goods coming into the country

o The Canadian International Trade Tribunal which has the mandate, among other things, to apply Canada's antidumping and countervailing duty legislation. In this course, we will be looking at antidumping and countervailing duties and their usefulness as a trade remedy

Class Outline (con’t)

International Institutionso “secretariats” created by the various international treaties that carry out the administrative functions

Filing and circulating documents, organizing meetings, providing translation, providing some very basic research and information, conducting some "outreach" activities on behalf of policy members of the agreement.

Typically, these bodies are quite small. These organizations do not order countries around,

they have no power to force a country to do a particular thing.

o Occasionally, countries may disagree on the interpretation of treaties. Usually this is solved by ad hoc arbitration. We will look at dispute settlement in some detail

Class Outline (con’t)

Negotiations on new international law and institutions

There are international trade negotiations underway in a number of forums almost constantly

governments, industry, NGO’s, and citizens interact in negotiations

Canada as a federal country engaging in international negotiations and how provinces participate

Class Outline (con’t)

"Trade and..."Labour standards

Environment

Developing countries/development