The Uruguay RoundA World Trade Organizationan international body dealing with the rules of trade between participating nations round of trade negotiations, which took place between September 1986 and April 1994. negotiations (1994) produced an Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs). This agreement cautiously sought to limit the scope of the investment barriers described above. Because the mandate of the GATTAt the Bretton Woods conference following World War II, representatives of the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and 40 other countries created GATT to reduce barriers to international trade. It was an agreement not an organization. The functions of GATT were taken over by the World Trade Organizationan international body dealing with the rules of trade between participating nations when it was established in 1990. and the WTOan international body dealing with the rules of trade between participating nations was to specifically deal with trade-related issues, TRIMS was limited only to investment that affects international trade. Thus, investment in a facility producing solely for the local market would not be covered.

The agreement included provisions to ensure national treatmentThis has been a core element of most agreements on trade in goods and services, and is also a critical issue pertaining to international investment. Typically, these provisions ensure that foreign investors and their subsidiary companies are “treated at least as well as their domestic counterparts,” or “no less favorably” than domestic industries.; to prohibit domestic content provisions; and to discourage export performance requirements (known as “trade balancing requirements”), i.e., that a new investment facility export a certain percentage of its production. It also established a committee to monitor the operation and implementation of the Agreement, providing a forum to explore concerns over these measures more clearly.

TRIMS requires WTOan international body dealing with the rules of trade between participating nations member governments to notify the WTOan international body dealing with the rules of trade between participating nations and fellow-members of all investment measures that do not conform with TRIMS. Developed countries were given two years to eliminate these provisions (until 1996); most developing countries were given until 2000; and the least developed countriesA group of the world’s 50 poorest countries as designated by the United Nations based on three criteria: low income, human resources weakness and economic vulnerability were given a grace period beyond 2000.

Next: NAFTAa treaty between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which eliminated tariffs on many products traded between the three countries. It also protects intellectual propertyIntellectual property refers to the creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary or artistic works, and the symbols, names, and designs used in commerce. and outlines the removal of investment restriction amongst the three countries. Chapter 11