Trend Spotting: NAFTA Disputes after Fifteen Years

Abstract

Cross-border investment disputes have supplanted trade disputes as the main focus of legal actions under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to this study. The author finds a growing number of these investment disputes entail challenges by American investors against Canada's provincial, as opposed to federal, laws and regulations. So important constitutional issues need clarifying between Ottawa and the provinces. He notes as party to the treaty, Ottawa must carry the ball in court but who is really responsible? Who pays when the provinces or municipalities run afoul of Ottawa’s multilateral commitments?