The Yale Law Journal

International Trade

Forum

Regulating Foreign Commerce Through Multiple Pathways: A Case Study

Kathleen Claussen

Most accounts of trade law see legislation as the primary means of converting international commitments into U.S. law. Taking up trade in distilled spirits as a case study, this Essay shows that foreign commercial commitments trickle into domestic law through multiple pathways, including self-execut…

Article

The New National Security Challenge to the Economic Order

J. Benton Heath

Changes in national security policy pose a fundamental challenge to international economic law. Security policies worldwide encompass many emerging threats, from cyber vulnerabilities to climate change. This expansion potentially undermines the ability of investment and trade treaties to discipline …

Forum

The Multiple Selves of Economic Self-Determination

Odette Lienau

This Essay contends that dyadic understandings of economic self-determination, formed in light of earlier anticolonial struggles, are no longer sufficient. It argues instead for a plural and flexible conception, centered on a broader vision of the economic “self,” that more accurately reflects sourc…

Forum

Gender-Identity Protection, Trade, and the Trump Administration: A Tale of Reluctant Progressivism

Jean Galbraith & Beatrix Lu

This Essay discusses the inclusion of gender-identity protections in the Trump Administration’s “new NAFTA,” hypothesizing that these provisions were initially included without consulting important executive-branch stakeholders. Intriguingly, these protections demonstrate that trade agreements can l…

Comment

Building Political Will for Accountable, Equitable Trade Policy Making

Theodore T. Lee

Trade policy is at an inflection point. Because trade deals are often negotiated in secret and without congressional input, the public lacks the information necessary to hold the executive branch accountable. This Comment therefore proposes that Congress establish a nonpartisan, expert body to produ…