The Limits of Litigation: ‘Americanization’ and Negotiation in the Settlement of WTO Disputes

This Article examines the extent to which World Trade Organization WTO) dispute settlement is Americanized. It scrutinizes three features of the WTO mechanism for proof of Americanization : the right to a panel, the legalization of the panel process, and the bilateral and adversarial nature of the WTO dispute settlement system. Recognizing the many benefits linked to these three features, the Article then identifies some of the problems that have accompanied them. Finally, the Article suggests ways to remedy those problems focusing, in particular, on how trade disputes could be settled other than through bilateral state-to-state litigation. In that sense, the Article correlates Americanization to an increasing focus on litigation and explores ways by which different forms of negotiation could complement, or provide alternatives to, litigation in the effective resolution of modern trade disputes