The trade principles of Western liberal democracies are at the core
of international trade law regimes and standards. Are non-Western
societies uniformly adopting international standards, or are they
adapting them to local norms and cultural values?
This volume presents a new conceptual approach ��the paradigm
of selective adaptation ��to explore and explain the reception of
international trade law in the Pacific Rim. It brings together scholars
from Australia, Canada, China, and Japan who reveal how the World Trade
Organization�� standards are being interpreted ��and in
some cases disputed ��in selected countries. Building on a
conceptual discussion of the normative and institutional contexts for
international trade law, the authors draw on examples from China,
Japan, Thailand, and North America to show that formal acceptance of
international trade standards through accession to the World Trade
Organization and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade does not
necessarily lead to uniform enforcement and acceptance at the local
level.
Globalization and Local Adaptation in International Trade
Law provides compelling evidence that non-uniform compliance will
be a legitimate outcome of the globalization of international trade
rules.
