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International trade law includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries or between private companies across borders. Over the past twenty years, it has become one of the fastest growing areas of international law
International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of states and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond domestic legal interpretation and enforcement....
.

rnational trade law should be distinguished from the broader field of international economic law. The latter could be said to encompass not only WTO law, but also law governing the international monetary system
Monetary system

A monetary system secures the proper functioning of money by regulating economic agents, transaction types, and money supply.Monetary systems are traditionally formed by the policy decisions of individual governments and administrated as a domestic economic issue....
 and currency
Currency

A currency is a Medium of exchange, facilitating the trade of goods and/or Service s. It is coins and paper bills used as money. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a standard of value....
 regulation, as well as the law of international development
International development

International development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development - the development of livelihoods and greater quality of life for humans....
.

The body of rules for transnational trade in the 21st century derives from medieval commercial laws called the lex mercatoria
Lex mercatoria

Lex mercatoria is the Latin expression for a body of trading principles used by merchants throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Meaning literally "law merchant", it evolved as a system of custom and best practice, which was enforced through a system of merchant courts along the main trade routes....
 and lex maritima — respectively, "the law for merchants on land" and "the law for merchants on sea." Modern trade law (extending beyond bilateral treaties) began shortly after the Second World War, with the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to deal with trade in goods: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization ....
 (GATT).

International trade law is based on theories of economic liberalism
Economic liberalism

Economic liberalism is the economic component of classical liberalism.Theories in support of economic liberalism were developed in the Age of Enlightenment, and believed to be first fully formulated by Adam Smith which advocates...
 developed in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and later the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 from the 18th century onwards.

995, the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization is an international organization designed to supervise and Free trade international trade. The WTO came into being on 1 January 1995, and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which was created in 1947, and continued to operate for almost five decades as a de facto international org...
, a formal international organization to regulate trade, was established.






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International trade law includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries or between private companies across borders. Over the past twenty years, it has become one of the fastest growing areas of international law
International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of states and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond domestic legal interpretation and enforcement....
.

Overview

International trade law should be distinguished from the broader field of international economic law. The latter could be said to encompass not only WTO law, but also law governing the international monetary system
Monetary system

A monetary system secures the proper functioning of money by regulating economic agents, transaction types, and money supply.Monetary systems are traditionally formed by the policy decisions of individual governments and administrated as a domestic economic issue....
 and currency
Currency

A currency is a Medium of exchange, facilitating the trade of goods and/or Service s. It is coins and paper bills used as money. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a standard of value....
 regulation, as well as the law of international development
International development

International development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development - the development of livelihoods and greater quality of life for humans....
.

The body of rules for transnational trade in the 21st century derives from medieval commercial laws called the lex mercatoria
Lex mercatoria

Lex mercatoria is the Latin expression for a body of trading principles used by merchants throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Meaning literally "law merchant", it evolved as a system of custom and best practice, which was enforced through a system of merchant courts along the main trade routes....
 and lex maritima — respectively, "the law for merchants on land" and "the law for merchants on sea." Modern trade law (extending beyond bilateral treaties) began shortly after the Second World War, with the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to deal with trade in goods: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization ....
 (GATT).

International trade law is based on theories of economic liberalism
Economic liberalism

Economic liberalism is the economic component of classical liberalism.Theories in support of economic liberalism were developed in the Age of Enlightenment, and believed to be first fully formulated by Adam Smith which advocates...
 developed in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and later the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 from the 18th century onwards.

World Trade Organization

In 1995, the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization is an international organization designed to supervise and Free trade international trade. The WTO came into being on 1 January 1995, and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which was created in 1947, and continued to operate for almost five decades as a de facto international org...
, a formal international organization to regulate trade, was established. It is the most important development in the history of international trade law.

The purposes and structure of the organization is governed by the Agreement Establishing The World Trade Organization, also known as the "Marrakesh Agreement". It does not specify the actual rules that govern international trade in specific areas. These are found in separate treaties, annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement.

Trade in goods

The GATT has been the backbone of international trade law throughout most of the twentieth century. It contains rules relating to "unfair" trading practices — dumping
Dumping (pricing policy)

In economics, "dumping" can refer to any kind of predatory pricing. However, the word is now generally used only in the context of international trade law, where dumping is defined as the act of a manufacturer in one country exporting a product to another country at a price which is either below the price it charges in its home market or is b...
 and subsidies
Subsidy

In economics, a subsidy is a form of financial assistance paid to a business or economic sector. A subsidy can be used to support businesses that might otherwise fail, or to encourage activities that would otherwise not take place....
.

Dispute settlement

Since there are no international governing judges (2004) the means of dispute resolution is determined by jurisdiction. Each individual country hears cases that are brought before them. Governments choose to be party to a dispute. And private citizens determine jurisdiction by the Forum Clause in their contract.

Besides forum, another factor in international disputes is the rate of exchange. With currency fluctuation ascending and descending over years, a lack of Commerce Clause can jeopardize trade between parties when one party becomes unjustly enriched through natural market fluctuations. By listing the rate of exchange expected over the contract life, parties can provide for changes in the market through reassessment of contract or division of exchange rate fluctuations.

See also

Category:United States federal trade legislation
  • International trade
    International trade

    International trade is exchange of Capital , goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, it represents a significant share of gross domestic product ....


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