The author, a lawyer in Brussels and lecturer at the College of Europe in Natolin, places international trade law within an economic, political, and sociological context, focusing on the US and the European Union. Contending that, despite globalization, societies organize themselves differently and have diverse expectations of their governments and market actors, he explores how these differences affect the trading partners' policies in an age when nearly everything can be considered a matter of commerce. He also examines how domestic structures affect trade policy when the external world has a strong impact on the domestic sphere. Distributed by ISBS. c. Book News Inc.

"This book places international trade law within an economic, political and sociological context, contending that globalisation is characterised by both homogeneity and diversity. However, while implying changes within contracting parties, globalisation only results in a 'thin' homogeneity. Furthermore, globalisation is the result of the interaction, negotiations and policies between states. From this perspective, the book attempts to explain trade policy as resulting from domestic factors. Thus, if globalisation is characterised by diversity, how do such differences affect the trade policy of states in an era where nearly everything is subject to commerce? The book focuses on the US and the EC, analysing different institutional and substantive aspects of unfair trade instruments, such as anti-dumping and countervailing measures and market access instruments. Domestically, it focuses on both constitutional and socio-economic constraints. The book considers political action prescribed by formal constitutions in a wider socio-economic context, rejecting the a-historical and structurally blind normative idea of free trade."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Now available directly from: IIE 11 Dupont Circle, NW Washington, DC 20036 Tel: (202) 328-9000 Subsidies raise some of the most important and difficult issues of contemporary international economic relations. They are increasingly viewed as a key source of distortions to trade and investment flows and, while important initial steps have been made to bring them under international control, most governments view these efforts as an intrusion into their national sovereignty, and sharp differences remain concerning the nature and legitimacy of various subsidy practices. This book seeks to explain and analyze both the concepts underlying the subsidy problem and the most important of the issues involved. It discusses the various standards used to determine the existence and impact of subsidies in both agricultural and industrial trade, focusing in particular on the highly contentious problems of export credits, tax incentives, and the treatment of developing countries. One section of the book covers domestic subsidies, defining and relating them to international trade and offering proposals on how to deal with them constructively. The book concludes with a series of proposals for improving the ability of the international trading system to deal with problems posed by subsidies. These include more extensive (and perhaps altered) use of countervailing duties, the new concept of countervailing subsidies, and other possible means of handling third country markets. Changes in the existing international regime and in domestic legal structures are recommended to limit the adverse economic and political effects of subsidy practices. Gary Clyde Hufbauer is a Senior Fellow at the Institute and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Trade and Investment Policy. Joanna Shelton-Erb is an international economist at the United States Treasury Department.

The Oxford Handbook of the Political Economy of International Trade surveys the literature on the politics of international trade and highlights the most exciting recent scholarly developments. The Handbook is focused on work by political scientists that draws extensively on work in economics, but is distinctive in its applications and attention to political features; that is, it takes politics seriously. The Handbook's framework is organized in part along the traditional lines of domestic society-domestic institutions - international interaction, but elaborates this basic framework to showcase the most important new developments in our understanding of the political economy of trade. Within the field of international political economy, international trade has long been and continues to be one of the most vibrant areas of study. Drawing on models of economic interests and integrating them with political models of institutions and society, political scientists have made great strides in understanding the sources of trade policy preferences and outcomes. The 27 chapters in the Handbook include contributions from prominent scholars around the globe, and from multiple theoretical and methodological traditions. The Handbook considers the development of concepts and policies about international trade; the influence of individuals, firms, and societies; the role of domestic and international institutions; and the interaction of trade and other issues, such as monetary policy, environmental challenges, and human rights. Showcasing both established theories and findings and cutting-edge new research, the Handbook is a valuable reference for scholars of political economy.