Exam 8: National Lawmaking Powers and the Regulation of Ustrade

The main objective of U.S.trade law has been solely to discourage trade with unfriendly nations.

The Trading with the Enemy Act was passed for the purposes of allowing the U.S.to sell arms to friendly nations.

In Star-Kist Foods,Inc.v.United States,Star-Kist complained that the president's authority under the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act of 1934 was unconstitutional.Star-Kist sought to challenge a presidentially lowered tariff on canned tuna imported from Iceland.

Whether a treaty is self-executing or not depends on how a U.S.court interprets the language of the treaty and the history surrounding its negotiation and approval.

If a conflict arises between the terms of a treaty and a statute,the first in time will prevail.

The primary instrument for effectuating trade relations is the protocol.

A convention is a multilateral agreement on matters usually related to commercial issues of common concern.

The unconditional most favored nation policy provides that a lower tariff rate negotiated with one nation automatically grants lower tariff rates to like products imported from all nations that stand in most favored nation status with the U.S.

Congress has delegated to the president the authority to carry out the trade policies that it has set by statute.

Weigh the relative merits and detriments of FCN treaties.

Compare and contrast the Treaty Clause and the Commerce Clause (and the powers that flow from each).

While the Commerce Clause restricts what states may do as to imports,it places no restrictions on state actions as to exports.

There is very little debate over how the U.S.Constitution divides power over foreign affairs and foreign trade between the Congress and the president.

Under the Constitution,a treaty is considered:

A state's authority to tax a business engaged in foreign commerce is determined by the country with which the business trades.

What are the similarities and differences between a bi-lateral treaty with a foreign nation and an executive agreement with such a nation?

Identify an existing FCN Treaty between the U.S.and a foreign trading partner.Update this FCN Treaty as though it were being drafting today,under present political and economic conditions.

During the 1940s,the U.S.instituted a price support system for American potatoes.Congress had addressed the problems of agricultural imports in the Agricultural Act of 1948.The U.S.Secretary of State entered into an executive agreement with Canada that would permit only seed potatoes to be imported into the U.S.This agreement was not submitted to or approved by congress.A potato importer imported potatoes into the U.S.for A & P grocery stores for resale.When the court tried this case brought by the U.S.against the importer:

In Dole v.Carter,the court considered Senator Robert Dole's complaint that the president be enjoined from returning the Hungarian coronation regalia to Hungary.The court:

Treaties of friendship,commerce,and navigation are non-self-executing bilateral agreements that provide legal protection to foreign nationals doing business in a host country.