This introductory course surveys the laws of international trade regulation from a Canadian perspective. The course focuses on the public international law and domestic public law regimes regulating the conduct of international trade to and from Canada, with a particular focus on the multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). An additional focus will be on the increasing number of preferential trade agreements relevant to Canada such as the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, renegotiation of the NAFTA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
The course has as an express objective of providing all students with some introduction to basic policy aspects of international trade regulation drawn from economic theory, international relations theory, and international legal theory. However, no background is expected of students in terms of prior legal or other disciplinary knowledge (such as economics), just an interest in learning about some relevant policy tools from other disciplines.
Particular trade subjects for discussion include: WTO/GATT treaties and institutions; trade in goods; trade in services; trade and intellectual property; trade and investment; domestic trade remedies such as antidumping and countervail.
This course will also discuss important themes of contemporary international economic relations including the relation of trade to matters of national security and economic sanctions, and the relation of trade to social regulation, such as environmental or labour regulation.
Method of Evaluation: Open-book final examination (100%). Alternative evaluation: open-book final examination (75%) and mid-term assignment on topic set by instructor (25%).