Introduction

I am going to advance two propositions. One: the only reason we are in this room and having this conference is because of a provision in the trade promotion legislation of the United States mandating that US negotiators create an appellate mechanism in future FTAs. Two: that provision was not a well thought out 'gosh, we ought to have an appellate mechanism for all of these' but was a political compromise between the Democrats in the House and Senate and the Republicans in the House and Senate. The last proposition I will advance is that if we are going to have an ...