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International Trade Law Research Guide

Introduction

International trade law is a very complex and an ever expanding area. There are basically four levels of international trade relationships: unilateral measures (national law), bilateral relationships (Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement), plurilateral agreements, and multilateral arrangements (GATT/WTO). The focus of this guide is on international trade generally and on some of the major bilateral or multilateral agreements: NAFTA, GATT/WTO, FTA, and CAFTA. Many of the sources listed throughout this guide will contain information about other trade agreements and arrangements.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Wolff Library reference desk at 202-662-4195 or by email: intlref@law.georgetown.edu. You may also submit your question via this online form.

Selected Background and General Sources

To locate additional materials on international trade law, try keyword searching in the library catalog.

Trade-Related Research Databases

In addition to Lexis and Westlaw, the Library subscribes to a number of other databases [complete listing]. Several of these databases highlighted below are essential to conducting research in international trade law.

Trade-Specific Databases

  • International Trade Daily (BNA)
    This database covers information published on a daily basis about U.S. and foreign trade policy, with a focus on topics such as export incentives, financing, licensing, foreign investments, limits on imports, import relief, and adjustment assistance. The content includes news and trends in U.S. trade policy, including regulatory, legislative, and judicial developments; pertinent activities of the International Trade Commission, Departments of State, Treasury, and Commerce, World Trade Organization, and European Union; U.S. laws and agency actions likely to have an impact on imports and exports; trade law rulings from courts and administrative agencies; major international treaty negotiations and agreements; trade relationships and arrangements among U.S. trading partners; and international business developments, especially the global shift in regulation of trade in services. Coverage from September 11, 2000. trade and international business policy and the policies of major U.S. trading partners in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia.
  • International Trade Reporter (BNA)
    This electronic version of the publication provides "current information on laws, regulations, cases, and policy developments affecting U.S. trade, international business, and major U.S. trading partners, provided in this comprehensive multi part resource." Also available in print in the Wolff Library reference stacks at Call Number KF6656.5 .I58.
  • World Trade Online
    Immediate access to the latest in trade news. Each day's complete issue of Inside U.S. Trade, plus retrospective coverage. Also available: News from Around the World and exclusive special reports.
  • Worldtradelaw.net
    Provides detailed summaries and commentaries on WTO Panel and Appellate Body Reports. Each document provides a basic summary of the panel's or Appellate Body's legal findings and conclusions, a timeline, references to other reports and materials, and expert analysis on many of the key issues in the report. There is also access to the full text of the Panel and Appellate Reports. See Dispute Settlement Commentary Subscriber Log-in Area to access the commentaries.
  • TradeLawGuide
    This is a search engine that searches across PDF files of official awards, decisions, and other WTO documents and "notes up"
    (e.g. "shepardizes") by tracking how subsequent WTO reports, awards and decisions have considered specific passages in WTO
    jurisprudence. Features a citator that collects all jurisprudence under a treaty provision for the WTO system.


Country Data and Policy-Related Databases

  • Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)
    Scholarly documents from leading international relations research centers. Complete texts of working papers and scholarly documents from leading international relations research centers. Complete texts of working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. Also provides access to relevant journal issues and books. Coverage: 1991 – present.
  • EIU: Economist Intelligence Unit
    EIU provides analysis and forecasts of the political, economic and business environment in more than 180 countries. Includes reports on industries, country data (including economic indicators and forecasts) and daily country analysis. 1996 - present.
  • PolicyFile: Public Policy Research and Analysis
    Abstracts of data from public policy think tanks, university research programs and publishers, with coverage from 1990. Links to organizational home pages and to full text documents, where available.

General Trade-Related Resources on the Internet

There are many sites on the Internet which focus on trade and trade-related issues. Listed below is a sampling of some of the sites available.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

The purpose of NAFTA is establish a free-trade zone for Canada, Mexico and the United States. The agreement entered into force on January 1, 1994.

Sources for the Text of NAFTA

Selected Sources for Commentary and Background Information on NAFTA

  • NAFTA and Free Trade in the Americas in a Nutshell (2nd edition)
    Williams KDZ944.F653 2004 A good basic introduction to the agreement.
  • North American Free Trade Agreements (updated regularly) INTL KDZ944.A35 N67
  • The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) : Documents and Materials Including a Legislative History of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Public Law 103-182 INTL KDZ944.A41992 N676 1994
  • NAFTA Tax Law and Policy : Resolving the Clash Between Economic and Sovereignty Interests INTL KDZ 911.C63 2005
  • NAFTA Revisited : Achievements and Challenges INTL HF1746.H85 2005
  • NAFTA Investment Law and Arbitration : Past Issues, Current Practice, Future Prospects
    INTL KDZ744.N34 2004

NAFTA Panel Decisions

NAFTA Internet Resources

Bibliographies on NAFTA

GATT / WTO

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was an international organization that promoted international trade and the reduction of trade barriers from 1947 to 1994. The World Trade Organization, the successor organization of the GATT, was established following the eighth round of GATT negotiations (the Uruguay Round) in 1995.

The Georgetown Law Library has written an extensive research guide on the GATT/WTO. Researchers should refer to this guide for detailed information on these two organizations.

The following materials are some of the most useful ones for researching the GATT/WTO. See the GATT/WTO research guide for many more sources.

  • Worldtradelaw.net - GULC only
    Provides detailed summaries and commentaries on WTO Panel and Appellate Body Reports. Each document provides a basic summary of the panel's or Appellate Body's legal findings and conclusions, a timeline, references to other reports and materials, and expert analysis on many of the key issues in the report. There is also access to the full text of the Panel and Appellate Reports. See Dispute Settlement Commentary Subscriber Log-in Area to access the commentaries.
  • World Trade Online - GULC only
    Immediate access to the latest in trade news. Each day's complete issue of Inside U.S. Trade, plus retrospective coverage going back 5 years. Also available: News from Around the World and exclusive special reports.
  • WTO Reporter - GULC only
    Daily coverage of news developments from and about the World Trade Organization.
  • WTO Dispute Settlement: One-Page Case Summaries [pdf]
    Concise overviews of cases from 1995 to Sept. 2006.
  • Bibliography on the World Trade Organization (Peace Palace Library)
  • TradeLawGuide
    This search engine searches across PDF files of official awards, decisions, and other WTO documents and "notes up"
    (e.g. "shepardizes") by tracking how subsequent WTO reports, awards and decisions have considered specific passages in WTO
    jurisprudence. Features a citator that collects all jurisprudence under a treaty provision for the WTO.
  • WTO Analytical Index
    The WTO Analytical Index is the authoritative guide to the interpretation and application of findings and decisions of WTO panels,
    the WTO Appellate Body and other Bodies. You can search for caselaw or decisions by topic (e.g. anti-dumping, footwear, or like
    products) or by agreement/article (e.g. TRIPS Art. 30 or Anti-Dumping Art. 2). The WTO Analytical Index is also available in print.
    INTL REF K4602.2 2003
  • Analytical Index : Guide to GATT Law and Practice INTL REF KZ5185.C6 1994
    The GATT Analytical Index is similar to the WTO Analytical Index. It also contains notes on the drafting, interpretation and application
    of the articles of the GATT. It has references to corresponding articles from the Havana Charter and preceding drafts.

United States - Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

This agreement was signed by President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney on January 2, 1988 and, after implementing legislation was enacted in the United States and Canada, the Agreement entered into force on January 1, 1989. Its main purpose is to eliminate all tariffs on trade between the U.S. and Canada by January 1, 1998. The FTA was superseded by NAFTA (see above) on Jan. 1, 1994.

Sources for the text of FTA

Selected Sources for Commentary and Background Information on FTA

FTA Panel Review Decisions

Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)

The purpose of CAFTA is to create a trade free-zone between the United States and Central America by eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers. After having passed in the U.S. Senate, CAFTA passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a narrow majority (217 to 215) on July 28, 2005. The seven members of CAFTA are: United States, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Sources for the text of CAFTA

Selective Legislative History of CAFTA

The following PDFs are available through GPO Access by entering "CAFTA" in the Quick Search.

Electronic Resources on CAFTA

  • PolicyFile: Public Policy Research and Analysis - GULC only
    PolicyFile is a database covering documents from public policy think tanks, university research programs and publishers. A quick search of PolicyFile provided 31 results relating to CAFTA.
  • Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) - GULC only
    A policy database similar to PolicyFile, a search for CAFTA in CIAO likewise returned many relevant results.
  • CAFTA Corner
    An insightful blog on CAFTA that includes links to CAFTA research and commentary. Quick place to locate voting results. Note: this blog tracked CAFTA until the passage in the House, so no new posts are being added.
  • CAFTA (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service)
    This site includes implementation news, background material, commodity fact sheets and more.

Periodical Literature

Periodical literature is a good way to obtain background information, locate the text of a foreign law, a citation, or locate information about a subject. Westlaw and Lexis provide excellent coverage of U.S. law reviews, but you should consider expanding your journal research to foreign journals and indexes for more comprehensive and global coverage. For information on other journal databases, see our Using Articles for Legal and Non-Legal Research for a complete list. The databases listed below include full text and indexes.

If you already have a citation and want to know if the library has the article in electronic format, simply search the journal title in our online catalog. The results will display both print and electronic options.

  • Cambridge University Press (Georgetown only)
    Full text access to journals published by Cambridge University Press. Search by title, abstract, or by full text. You can also limit by journal title or subject.
  • Oxford University Press (Georgetown only)
    Online access to journals covering legal, regional affairs, social sciences, and other subjects. Search by title, abstract, or by full text. You can also limit by journal title or subject.
  • Kluwer Law International Journals (Georgetown only)
    Kluwer publishes several trade related journals and you can search them here. Also known as KLI Journals Online. Note: The Library does not subscribe to all titles that are listed on the Kluwer web site.

To obtain the best results, use periodical indexes to locate relevant citations. Below are listed a few of the most commonly used journal indexes. See our journal indexes page for a complete list. If you are new to using indexes to find articles, have a look at these two guides: Locating Journal Articles: Foreign & International and Using Articles for Legal and Non-Legal Research.

  • Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (Georgetown only)
    This resource is a comprehensive index of mainly U.S. law reviews, bar journals, and more from 1981 to the present. For historical research, search the Legal Periodicals Retrospective[174] (be sure to "check" the retro box) which covers the years 1918-1981.
  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Georgetown Law only)
    This is an index of foreign law reviews many of which may not be in English. Searching, citations, and index terms are in English. This is one of the few ways to electronically search foreign law journals.
  • Legal Journals Index (Georgetown Law only)
    This is part of Current Legal Information and provides citations from 320 British and European periodicals in the legal and financial areas. Note: this requires a password. Follow link for information.

Selected Specialized Journals

  • Asper Review of International Business and Trade Law available online (Georgetown Law Only) after 2010.
  • International Economic Review available online (Georgetown Law Only) after 2004.
  • International Trade Law & Regulation available in print in Wolff Library.
  • Journal of International Economic Law available online (Georgetown Law Only) after December 2010.
  • Journal of World Trade available online and in print (Georgetown Law Only).
  • The Journal of World Investment & Trade available only in print in Wolff Library.
  • World Trade Review available online (Georgetown Law Only) after July 2010.

Other Research Guides

Want more information about international trade law? These other research guides may help.

Revised January 2007 (aeb)
Links August 2008 (RAS)
Links 05/11 (mms)

Page last saved 23-Sep-2011