No more negotiated deals? Settlement of trade and investment disputes in East Asia

Many argue that East Asian countries have come to adopt 'aggressive legalism' in trade and investment policy, in the sense that they have come to settle their trade and investment disputes through the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) of the WTO and the other third-party procedures. Scrutiny of the dispute cases of these countries shows, however, that East Asian legalism is not so aggressive, that it varies country by country, and that there still exists room for negotiated deals in settling trade and investment disputes among them. On the other hand, the recent move toward regional integration through free trade agreements (FTAs), economic partnership agreements (EPAs), and bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in East Asia may lead to the adoption of a more aggressive legalism in the region, in particular in settling investment disputes, disputes relating to intellectual property rights, and trade remedies.