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International Trade Law: A Comprehensive E-Textbook, Volume 4 National Security (6th edition)

Bhala, Raj
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Abstract
The significance of the link between trade and national security cannot be overstated. While it is a link dating to ancient times (as Volume One observes), in the post-Cold War era, it is fair to say trade policy is national security policy, or a part thereof, and vice versa. Thus, Volume Four is about the theory and practice of this link. Part One covers border security in a post-9/11 world. After that terrorist attack, the function of the U.S. Customs Service – renamed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – enlarged from clearance of merchandise (discussed in Volume Two) to protecting America’s borders. The job of CBP now includes ensuring only “good goods and good people” enter the U.S. customs territory. That is likewise the task of customs authorities around the globe. Here, again, the U.S. national-level measures have been studied in other countries, and at the World Customs Organization (WCO), as role models to one degree or another. Part Two is about how “national security” is defined in theory and practice. Both the multilateral level, i.e., Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, and the U.S. level, i.e., the array of Presidential authorities to deal with “national security” challenges, are reviewed. So, too, is the controversy as to whether World Trade Organization (WTO) adjudicators do, or even should, have any subject matter jurisdiction over the invocation by WTO Members of national security as a reason to derogate from a GATT-WTO obligation. Parts Three and Four concern two of the most important manifestations of the link between trade and national security – Section 232 and export controls, respectively. Again, both theory and practice are discussed. Section 232 allows the President to adjust imports to avoid an impairment to national security. Steel and aluminum imports are among the key targets for this weapon. Export controls are relevant to nuclear, military, or dual-use (civilian and military) items. The U.S. reasons for controlling such exports, and how it does so, are evaluated. Parts Five, Six, and Seven treat a third key instance of the trade-national security nexus, namely, trade sanctions. Part Five is theoretical, asking whether trade sanctions are “moral.” Different criteria for evaluating what constitutes “moral” behavior are laid out. Parts Six and Seven are practical, with two major case studies, Iran and Russia, respectively. Like the U.N., and other WTO Members, the U.S. has maintained a dizzying array of sanctions against Iran ever since the 1979-1981 Hostage Crisis. These sanctions are explained chronologically. Associated with those sanctions is Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. So, a critical analysis of the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA, i.e., the July 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal) is offered. Further, since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, America and its Allies have slapped sanctions on Russia, and ratcheted them up. These punishments include innovative actions, such as price caps on oil and natural gas. Overall, Volume Four examines all aspects of the concept of “national security” and logic for linking it to measures such as import adjustment, export controls, and trade sanctions. Included in this treatment are moral arguments for and against those measures. The Volume thus embraces the detailed legal rules at issue, and from them infers grand questions. Like the other seven Volumes of International Trade Law: A Comprehensive E-Textbook, this Volume is available Open Access, and thus freely, quickly downloadable.
Description
This book is Volume Four of an Eight-Volume set. All of the Volumes are available in KU ScholarWorks. Links to all eight volumes are available in the Abstracts file in this record. About the Author: Born in Toronto of Indian and Celtic heritage, Rakesh (Raj) Kumar Bhala is a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen prominent in the fields of International Trade Law, Islamic Law (Sharī‘a), and Law and Literature. Raj is the inaugural Leo. S. Brenneisen Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law (KU Law). He is published widely world-wide – authoring 100 scholarly articles and 13 books, including the International Trade Law Textbook, which has been used at over 100 law schools around the globe. Ingram’s Business Magazine designated him as one of “50 Kansans You Should Know.” Raj has testified before the U.K. Parliament, House of Commons, International Trade Committee, on trade and human rights. Media frequently call upon Raj. Across 65 consecutive months (from January 2017-October 2022), “On Point” was his column on International Law and Economics, which Bloomberg Quint / BQ Prime (Mumbai) published and distributed to approximately 6.2 million readers globally. Raj is a Harvard Law School (HLS) graduate (Cum Laude). As a Marshall Scholar, Raj earned two Master’s degrees, from the London School of Economics (LSE) in Economics, and from Oxford (Trinity College) in Management (Industrial Relations). His undergraduate degree is from Duke (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), where he was an Angier B. Duke Scholar and double-majored in Economics and Sociology. After HLS, Raj practiced at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he twice won the President’s Award for Excellence thanks to his service as a delegate to the United Nations Conference on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), along with a Letter of Commendation from the U.S. Department of State. He is a member of the State Department’s Speaker Program. Raj has served in officer positions at the International Bar Association (IBA) and Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), on the Executive Board of Directors of the Carriage Club of Kansas City (including as Treasurer), and been on the Alumni Association Board of the University School of Milwaukee (USM), his high school alma mater. He is grateful to his USM teachers for a liberal arts education that made all good things possible. Raj loves fitness training, has finished 115 marathons, including the “Big Five” of the “World’s Majors” (Boston twice, New York twice, Chicago twice, Berlin, and London). He enjoys studying Shakespeare and (especially since becoming Catholic at Easter Vigil 2001) Theology – and watching baseball.
Date
2024-05-24
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Publisher
Wheat Law Library, University of Kansas