ENV 853b/Law () / 2025-2026

International Trade Law and Policy

Credits: 3 Spring 2026: M,W, 1:35-3:00, SLB - TBD

Follows the Law School Calendar

This course explores the changing laws, policies, economic theories, and negotiating practices that undergird international trade. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding the current political challenges and geostrategic frictions that that threaten the global governance structures including international institutions (notably, the World Trade Organization, UN Trade, and International Trade Center) that have shaped the trading system for the past 80 years. In addition, the course will highlight U.S. domestic trade policy dynamics and the policy entities including the US Trade Representative, Congress, and US International Trade Commission. The course will review and evaluate the rules and principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) including the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as well as the Global Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and regional accords such as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) the European Union (EU) as a trade structure. Special focus will be given to the recent backlash against trade liberalization and globalization more generally – and how the system of international economic law has addressed (or not addressed) the integration of values including environmental protection, climate change, inequality, poverty alleviation, human and labor rights, worker impacts, and public health. Supervised Analytic Writing credit is available. Also GLBL 7195.