This chapter reviews the literature on the enforcement and dispute settlement of international trade agreements. It organizes the review of theoretical developments according to the following questions, of which relevant studies provide new insights: How can governments enforce trade agreements...

On 1 January 1995, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) entered into force. During its first ten years, the DSU has since been applied to 324 complaints - more cases than dispute settlement under the GATT 1947 had dealt with in nearly five decades....

International law has traditionally evolved to settle legal disputes between States and private parties by providing for economic retaliation and demand for repatriation in case of trade in goods. When it comes to disputes between States diplomatic efforts have attempted to prevent trade...

This paper concerns the purposes of WTO retaliation. There are two most competing purposes of WTO retaliation: inducing compliance and rebalancing. My paper introduces another purpose of retaliation that is reflected in the EC – Hormones dispute: inducing a mutually agreeable solution. In May...

Economic theory has made considerable progress in explaining why sovereign countries cooperate in trade. Central to most theories of trade cooperation are issues of self-enforcement: The threat of reprisal by an aggrieved party maintains the initial balance of concessions and prevents...

This paper constitutes an attempt to reframe and eventually deflate the ongoing “compliance-vs.-rebalancing” debate which has permeated WTO scholarship for the last 10 years. Our main criticism concerns the substance of the entire debate. We find that scholars on both sides of the...

On 1 January 1995, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) entered into force. Until August 2006, the DSU has since been applied to 348 complaints - more cases than dispute settlement under the GATT 1947 had dealt with in nearly five decades. The...

This article examines the phenomena of dissent within WTO dispute settlement panels and within Appellate Body divisions ("horizontal disagreement") and the failure of certain WTO dispute settlement panels to follow previous rulings of the Appellate Body ("vertical disagreement"). With respect to...