New trade law tome covers expanding field

A trade law expert from the University of Kansas has written a new text for students of the discipline. The fifth edition of International Trade Law: A Comprehensive Textbook has been released.

“It’s sort of grown up with the field of international trade law,” said author Raj Bhala, the Brennesein Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas Law School and a Senior Advisor at Dentons. “When the first edition came out, NAFTA had just entered into force in 1994 and the World Trade Organization had just been born in 1995.”

Through these five editions, the textbook has grown as the field has expanded.

“It’s certainly not just about tariffs anymore,” said Bhala. “It’s about national security and Iran. It’s about compliance by China with intellectual property standards. It’s about new free-trade agreements like the TPP. International trade law has become not only one course in law schools, not only two courses, but sometimes three courses.”

There are four volumes and each is a module that can be used in its own course.

“The textbook is a textbook, not a casebook,” said Bhala. “I’ve written it. It’s not just, here are excerpts from cases and articles and you figure it out. It’s laid out easily in a user-friendly way for the reader. Not only students who are new to the field, but practitioners who are new to the field or who need a reference to check points or some background information or some detailed analysis, they can use the textbook, indeed, as a reference.”

New chapters include discussions on trade and climate change, animal rights, and Indian trade law and policy.