The United States and International Trade Law: Challenges to World Peace

In the middle of World War II, the United States President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, met on a boat off the coast of Newfoundland to set forth a blueprint for a new, post-war international order. In the Atlantic Charter of 1941, they agreed on eight principles to shape a new world order, with one principle being the promotion of economic liberalization. This principle was later reflected in the United Nations Charter and the founding documents of other international organizations that the United States supported in the aftermath of World War II. Yet today, the United States is retrenching from international engagement in the international trade sphere. This development should not come as a surprise – a sense of inward focus has been present throughout the history of the United States. This thesis examines the history of U.S. international trade policy before and after the establishment of the multilateral trading system. The focus is on the inconsistency of the U.S. approach, and specifically the recent anti-liberalization actions in the international trading regime. The thesis documents the inconsistent position of the United States and argues that it establishes instability and undermines world peace and security, the very objective that America sought to promote in the post-World War II environment.