The impact of international law on the trading policies of the United States and the European Union with special reference to the regulation of subsidies, dumping and countervailing measures

MacLean, Robert M. (1995) The impact of international law on the trading policies of the United States and the European Union with special reference to the regulation of subsidies, dumping and countervailing measures. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Everyone should be concerned when the rule of law fragments in international relations. Once this phenomenon occurs, international disputes become rife and international order is threatened. Understanding why the rule of law has such a limited normative impact on international behaviour is the subject of this work. A body of international rules has been selected and analyzed in their application by states. The particular rules selected are those of the pre-1995 GATT in general and the specific rules regulating the use of subsidies, countervailing duties and anti-dumping measures in particular. This thesis examines these principles and how they operated on the international plateau prior to the adoption of new rules at the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. Thereafter, the impact of these rules on the trade policies and practices of the United States and the European Union are examined in rigorous detail. Specific attention is paid to the substantive anti-dumping and countervailing duty I was of the US and the EU as well as the administrative practices of the two trading entities. After such a comparison is made, it becomes clear that, in this context, both the United States and the European Union conduct this aspect of their respective trade policies independently of the prescribed rules. This comparison requires an indepth evaluation of the policies and administrative practices of both these states. Hence, the size of this work is justified by the need for close and detailed analysis of the relevant laws, regulations and administrative practices. The final conclusion is that the limited normative impact of these rules can then be ascribed to five factors: (a) the limited normative efficacy of the international trade legal order itself; (b) the degree to which substantive rules of law embody an adequate consensus in relation to their content; (c) the extent to which these international rules are compatible with the policy objectives and goals sought by the United States and the European Union in this context; (d) the ability of the rules to permeate the decision-making processes inside states and to prevail over non-legal factors and considerations; and (e) the strength of such rules in terms of their ability to withstand dilution or avoidance when incorporated at the national level. These conclusions are an unfortunate reflection of the limitations of the rule of international law. However, perhaps they can provide greater understanding of the manner in which international relations are conducted in reality.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from the University of Glasgow (Senior Research Scholarship, 1988-1991), the University of San Diego, California, United States, (Pierre Azard Scholarship, Paris Institute for American Law, 1989, and funding for research at San Diego University), European University Institute (Summer Programme Scholarship, Florence, 1990), European Parliament (Robert Schuman Scholarship, Luxembourg, 1991) and the Hutcheson Educational Trust (Travelling Scholarship, 1990).
• Keywords: International law, economics.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences
• Supervisor's Name: Carty, Professor Anthony J.
• Date of Award: 1995
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1995-71535
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 10 May 2019 14:21
• Last Modified: 02 Sep 2021 12:59
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71535
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71535