INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAWS 
REGIONAL TRADE ORGANIZATIONS

CD13 Outline                                                                         Course Structure Index

Goals
This module examines regional trading arrangements, the laws and agreements that govern such arrangements, and their relationship to the international institutions and laws covered in modules.

To familiarize students with the origins and structures of regional trade agreements, their role in governing international trade and investment, the extent to which they complement or undermine the multilateral system, and the reasons governments pursue their trading interests along more than one track. Students who successfully complete this course should be able to identify how and when to deploy regional agreements to address specific issues in international trade and investment, the pros and cons of regional approaches to a problem, and the limits of such agreements. Students should also be able to analyze the impact of such agreements on non­members and how non-members can address issues that may arise in relations with members of regional arrangements.

Topics Covered
The module will concentrate on a comparative analysis of four important regional agreements and arrangements: the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Common Market of the Southern Cone (MERCOSUR), and APEC. Each of these agreements illustrates various characteristics of regionalism. The module will examine their origins, structure of their obligations, their institutional arrangements, and their relationships to each other and to the multilateral system. The module will also provide a cursory overview of the wide range of other regional arrangements as a prelude to a discussion of the positive and negative dimensions of regionalism and its possible future evolution.

Key Books and Articles

 Anderson, Kym and Richard Blackhurst, eds., Regional Integration and the Global Trading System (New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993).

 Bhagwati, Jagdish and Anne Krueger, The Dangerous Drift to Preferential Trade Agreements (Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1995).

 Cable, Vincent and David Henderson, eds., Trade Blocs? The Future of Regional Integration (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1994).

 Hufbauer, Gary Clyde and Jeffrey J Schott, Western Hemispheric Economic Integration (Washington: Institute for International Economics, 1994).

 Lawrence, Robert Z., Regionalism Multilateralism and Deeper Integration (Washington: Brookings, 1995).

 National Planning Association, "Perspectives on Western Economic Integration, " North American Outlook,. S. no. 4/volt 6, no. I (Winter 1995/6).

 OAS,Interim Report of the OAS Special Committee on Trade to the Western Hemisphere Trade Ministerial (Washington: OAS, 1995).

 OECD, Regional Integration and `he Multilateral Trading System: Synergy and Divergence (Paris: OECD. 1995).

 Schott, Jeffrey I., NAFTA: An Assessment (Washington: Institute for International Economics, 1992).

 Trebilcock, Michael J. and Robert Howse, The Regulation of International Trade (New York: Routledge, 1995).

 Case Material
Students will compare and analyze how similar problems have been addressed in a number of regional agreements, including the Treaty of Rome, the Single European Act, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the MERCOSUR agreement.

Criteria for Evaluating Teaching and Student Performance
Students will do a take-home exam that will involve preparing documents, speeches, and/or memoranda typical of those prepared in government and private firms and which will demonstrate their understanding of the structure and principles of the rights and obligations in a regional trade agreement, their role in governing conduct among governments, and their influence on the flow of international trade and investment.