Today’s trade agreements include “trade-plus” provisions such as intellectual property, labor, and environment commitments and subject them to the same dispute settlement mechanisms as the traditional commercial provisions. This Article queries whether the institutional design in which such trade-plus provisions operate is both appropriate and appropriately theorized. It argues that the trade-plus commitments suffer from a mismatch between the obligations that they demand of states and their compliance mechanisms. The Article proceeds in three parts. Part I reviews the short evolution of the codification of selected trade-plus norms and their enforceability across a selection of international economic instruments from diverse states. Part II argues that the U.S.-Guatemala labor case under the CAFTA-DR demonstrates how the mechanics of the traditional trade agreement dispute settlement system do not accommodate one such trade-plus area (labor). Finally, Part III argues that trade-plus commitments need to be reconceived and that their enforcement mechanisms ought to be reevaluated. In the context of their efforts to modernize or update U.S. trade agreements, the Trump Administration and other governments ought to consider innovative institutional design that achieves enforcement on a principled basis. I argue that an alternative dispute settlement mechanism would better accommodate trade-plus enforcement in a way that traditional trade enforcement cannot. (September 2019 revision: this post now includes a link to a late-stage draft.)

中文翻译：

---

重新构想 Trade-Plus 合规性：劳工故事

今天的贸易协定包括“贸易加”条款，例如知识产权、劳工和环境承诺，并使其受制于与传统商业条款相同的争端解决机制。本条质疑此类贸易加成条款运作的制度设计是否既适当又适当地理论化。它认为，贸易加承诺受到国家要求的义务与其合规机制之间不匹配的影响。文章分三部分进行。第一部分回顾了选定的贸易加规范编纂的短暂演变及其在来自不同国家的选定国际经济文书中的可执行性。第二部分认为美国 - CAFTA-DR 下的危地马拉劳工案例展示了传统贸易协定争端解决系统的机制如何不适应这样的贸易加领域（劳工）。最后，第三部分认为需要重新考虑贸易加承诺，并且应该重新评估其执行机制。在努力使美国贸易协定现代化或更新的背景下，特朗普政府和其他政府应该考虑创新的制度设计，以在原则基础上实现执法。我认为，替代性争端解决机制会以传统贸易执法无法做到的方式更好地适应贸易加执法。（2019 年 9 月修订版：此帖子现在包含指向后期草稿的链接。）在努力使美国贸易协定现代化或更新的背景下，特朗普政府和其他政府应该考虑创新的制度设计，以在原则基础上实现执法。我认为，替代性争端解决机制会以传统贸易执法无法做到的方式更好地适应贸易加执法。（2019 年 9 月修订版：此帖子现在包含指向后期草稿的链接。）在努力使美国贸易协定现代化或更新的背景下，特朗普政府和其他政府应该考虑创新的制度设计，以在原则基础上实现执法。我认为，替代性争端解决机制会以传统贸易执法无法做到的方式更好地适应贸易加执法。（2019 年 9 月修订版：此帖子现在包含指向后期草稿的链接。）