This report presents background and analysis on the development of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which expired on July 1, 2007. The report also includes a summary of the major provisions under the recently expired authority and a discussion of the issues that have arisen in the debate over TPA renewal. It also explores the policy options available to Congress and will be updated as the congressional debate unfolds.
Introduction -- Intellectual property rights basics -- Global intellectual property holdings -- Contribution of intellectual property to U.S. economy -- The organized structure of IPR protection -- U.S. trade law -- Issues for Congress.
U.S. trade obligations derive from international trade agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the other World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, and additional bilateral and regional trade agreements, as well as domestic laws intended to implement those agreements or effectuate U.S. trade policy goals. This report provides an overview of both sources of U.S. trade obligations, focusing on a select group of agreements, provisions, and statutes that are most commonly implicated by U.S. trade interests and policy. This report is not intended as a comprehensive review of trade law. It is an introductory overview of the legal framework governing trade-related measures.
Mega-regional agreements have recently stirred controversy, producing a clash between the founding principles of liberalisation and protectionism, giving rise to competence issues between the European Union and its Member States. Although scholarly work has focused for years on the controversial “social clause”, it is now worth carrying out a detailed, legal analysis of the labour standards contained in the mega-regional trade agreements adopted and negotiated by the EU and the US. The topic gives rise to much controversy, as it is influenced by political convictions and election results. For this reason, it poses one of the most significant challenges to international labour law. Based on these considerations, this book examines the social dimension of three of the most relevant mega-regional trade agreements, namely TTP, CETA, and TTIP. It is argued that trade liberalisation should be accompanied by progress in the social and labour field.
With jobless recoveries the issue du jour, free trade has become a wedge issue of considerable importance in the developed countries. This book hones in on free trade areas and their role in this complex globalisation process. CONTENTS: Preface; Free Trade Agreements: Impact on US Trade and Implications for US Trade Policy (William H. Cooper); The US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (Dick K. Nanto); Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Chile: Labor Issues (Mary Jane Bolle); The US-Chile Free Trade Agreement: Economic and Trade Policy Issues (J. F. Hornbeck); Agricultural Trade in a US- Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) (Remy Jurenas); A Free Trade Area of the Americas: Status of Negotiations and Major Policy Issues (J. F. Hornbeck); US -- Jordan Free Trade Agreement (Mary Jane Bolle); Index.
This book deals with international labor and employment law in the East Asia Region (EA), particularly dealing with China, South Korea, and Japan. It explores and explains the effects of globalization and discusses the role of international lawyers, business personnel, and human resource directors who are knowledgeable, culturally sensitive, and understand the issues that can arise when dealing in EA trade and investment. The text and readings (from area experts) are organized and written to provide the reader with, first, a broad understanding and insight into the global dimensions of the fast-emerging area of labor and employment issues (e.g., global legal standards and their interplay with domestic and foreign laws); and second, to show how these laws and approaches play out in specific EA countries (comparing global approaches with the specific laws of each country on four common agenda items: regulatory administration, workers' rights, trade unions, and dispute resolution). The book should be of interest not only to lawyers, students, human resource personnel, and government officials, but also to business investors, managers, and members of the public interested in the growing phenomenon of changing labor laws and societies in China, South Korea, and Japan.
Looking beyond the headlines to address the enduring grand strategic questions facing the United States today. American foreign policy is in a state of upheaval. The rise of Donald Trump and his "America First" platform have created more uncertainty about America's role in the world than at any time in recent decades. From the South China Sea, to the Middle East, to the Baltics and Eastern Europe, the geopolitical challenges to U.S. power and influence seem increasingly severe—and America's responses to those challenges seem increasingly unsure. Questions that once had widely accepted answers are now up for debate. What role should the United States play in the world? Can, and should, America continue to pursue an engaged an assertive strategy in global affairs? In this book, a leading scholar of grand strategy helps to make sense of the headlines and the upheaval by providing sharp yet nuanced assessments of the most critical issues in American grand strategy today. Hal Brands asks, and answers, such questions as: Has America really blundered aimlessly in the world since the end of the Cold War, or has its grand strategy actually been mostly sensible and effective? Is America in terminal decline, or can it maintain its edge in a harsher and more competitive environment? Did the Obama administration pursue a policy of disastrous retrenchment, or did it execute a shrewd grand strategy focused on maximizing U.S. power for the long term? Does Donald Trump's presidency mean that American internationalism is dead? What type of grand strategy might America pursue in the age of Trump and after? What would happen if the United States radically pulled back from the world, as many leading academics—and, at certain moments, the current president—have advocated? How much military power does America need in the current international environment? Grappling with these kinds of issues is essential to understanding the state of America's foreign relations today and what path the country might take in the years ahead. At a time when American grand strategy often seems consumed by crisis, this collection of essays provides an invaluable guide to thinking about both the recent past and the future of America's role in the world.