Introduction

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International trade law is a very complex and an ever expanding area. There are basically four levels of international trade relationships: unilateral measures (national law), bilateral relationships (Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement), plurilateral agreements1, and multilateral arrangements (GATT/WTO). The focus of this guide is on international trade generally and on some of the major bilateral or multilateral international trade agreements: FTA, NAFTA, and GATT/WTO. Many of the sources listed throughout this guide will contain information about other trade agreements and arrangements.

1."[T]his term is used to denote agreements among multiple states that are not located in the same region, when the number of states involved is smaller than the number of states subscribing to GATT or the United Nations Charter, which larger number is denoted by the term 'multilateral'." (see 26 Vand. J. Transnat'l L. 975, fn 18).

Prepared by Marci Hoffman, International and Foreign Law Librarian, UC Berkeley Law Library, January 2004.