International Trade and the Environment: Building a Framework for Conflict Resolution

October 1991
Citation:
21
ELR 10589
Issue
10
Author
Kyle E. McSlarrow

Editors' Summary: To practice environmental law in the 1990s, it is necessary to be familiar with international trade. Trade concerns affect every aspect of environmental law from agricultural subsidies to the disparate impact of pollution abatement regulation on pricing. The following two Dialogues present an overview of the issues and insight on the relationship between international trade and the environment. The first, by a member of the Trade and Environmental Committees of the U.S. Council for International Business, explains how the historic tension between environment and trade can be alleviated by incorporating environmental concerns into the international trade framework. The second, by counsel to the International Trade Commission, delineates specific measures to ensure that environmental concerns are incorporated into international trade decisions. Together, these Dialogues familiarize environmental lawyers with international trade and argue for unifying environmental improvement with liberal trade.

Mr. McSlarrow is an environmental attorney with the Washington, D.C., office of Hunton & Williams. He is also a member of the Trade and Environmental Committees of the U.S. Council for International Business. The views expressed in this Dialogue are not intended to represent the views of the U.S. Council or of any of its members. The author wishes to thank Turner T. Smith Jr., of the Brussels office, and Eric J. Murdock of the Washington office, of Hunton & Williams for their helpful criticisms on earlier drafts.

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