New Experiences of International Arbitration in the United States

Abstract

This article is the National Report of the United States for the XVIIth International Congress of Comparative Law held in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Part I provides an overview of international arbitration law in the United States, highlighting some currently unsettled issues. Part II describes the growing American involvement in international arbitration. Part III then examines “new experiences” with international arbitration in the U.S.: (1) investor-state arbitration, particularly under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); (2) the interrelationship of new information technologies and international arbitration, focusing on the formation of arbitration agreements in electronic commerce transactions; and (3) the use of arbitration to resolve consumer and employment disputes in the United States, which to date has largely been a domestic undertaking but increasingly shows signs of becoming internationalized.