University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository Minnesota Journal of International Law 1999 The TRIMs Agreement: A Failed Attempt at Investment Liberalization Paul Civello Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mjil Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Civello, Paul, "The TRIMs Agreement: A Failed Attempt at Investment Liberalization" (1999). Minnesota Journal of International Law. 171. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mjil/171 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Minnesota Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Minnesota Journal of International Law collection by an authorized administrator of the Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Notes The TRIMs Agreement: A Failed Attempt at Investment Liberalization Paul Civello The Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures1 (TRIMs Agreement or Agreement) which emerged from the Uru- guay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations 2 was the product of a long and contentious negotiating history.3 Yet the result may not have been worth the pains. Indeed, despite the sound of the developed nations' clamor for investment liberalization and the fury of the developing nations' opposition to it, this Agree- ment may ultimately signify nothing. Two recent controversies involving foreign direct investment4 (FDI) in the automobile in- dustries of Brazil and Indonesia 5 have exposed the inadequacies of the TRIMs Agreement, highlighting the need for more effec- tive protections against host country 6 restraints on FDI. 1. Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, THE RESULTS OF THE URUGUAY RouND OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: THE LEGAL TExTs, GATT Sales No.