I am pleased to recommend a very interesting article (click here) published by NYC Bar Committee on International Trade that explores tensions and benefits of two competing types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Special thanks to principal drafters: Helena Sullivan, Stuart Shroff, Mark Du, and Albert Bloomsbury.
The article joins a contemporary list of discussions about the potency of international trade agreements. Among other individuals who discuss bilateral-multilateral tensions is a Columbia University professor Jagdish Bhagwati, who is particularly favored by the editor of this blog for his book "Termites in the trading system: how preferential agreements undermine free trade" Professor Bhagwati argues that bilateral trade agreements are detrimental to the progress of international trade and should be disfavored.