Only days after his inauguration as U.S. President, Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a “mega” regional free trade agreement that would have established the world's largest free trade zone. Although President Trump announced that the...

One of the most remarkable phenomena in international law during the past fifteen years has been the extraordinary increase in the number of agreements concluded relating to the protection or liberalization of foreign investment. More than 2500 such agreements now exist, with the great majority...

This paper is written in the context of the unravelling policy debate on Investor-State Dispute Settlement in Australia, which has become central in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Deviating from the widely accepted international practice of resolving investment disputes through...

The political economy of international trade decision-making within the United States is complex and ever-changing. The debates over the merits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the associated efforts of the Obama Administration to obtain Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), highlight...

This paper reviews the relationship between international investment agreements (IIAs) and foreign direct investment (FDI). It is organised in two parts. The first part explores the generic structure of IIAs and highlights the components that are particularly relevant to FDI. It then gives an...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement was signed in February 2016 by 12 Asia-Pacific economies that already account for 40% of world GDP, including the United States, Japan and Australia. If ratified, economists model significant economic growth prospects, especially for smaller and/or...

The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (‘ChAFTA') reflects the latest development of trade and investment rules in regional economic integration and is of significance to the future development of the international economic legal order. Through a critical analysis of the major ChAFTA rules...

Over the years, the substantive content of international investment agreements (IIAs) has shifted to reflect political change and to respond to lessons learnt in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). With a focus on eight IIAs, selected with a view to geographical representativeness, this...

This paper explores how regulatory responses to emerging IP issues in digital trade may develop at the international level and in particular how existing mechanisms might influence the chances of developing internationally agreed rules in this regard. The primacy of state sovereignty in...

In 2016 and 2017, states continued their engagement with international investment law. A small minority of states displayed scepticism or tried to disengage themselves from their investment law obligations. This chapter addresses select institutional developments in international investment law...