Legalization and Japan; the politics of WTO dispute settlement

The last decade has seen Japan become more aggressive in settling its trade disputes through the WTO process whereas previously it prefered settling such disputes more informally on a bilateral basis. In this book, Keisuke Iida demonstrates how and why this transformation has taken place. Professor Iida argues that though Japanese trade policy has become 'legalized' it remains distinct from US or the EU where trade lawyers are in the driving seat of dispute settlement. Instead, Japan has pursued what might be called 'tactical legalization', borrowing expertise, information and leverage from the private sector, foreign lawyers and the other major trading partners such as the EU in particular. The book demonstrates in detail how the multilateral trade system and the trade policy of major trading nations, including that of Japan, incl. that of Japan, interact to increase or restrain the 'legalization' of the world trading system.