国际商务英语 课件整理.doc

CHAPTER 2International Business LawPROMISEsomething that has the effect of an express assuranceindication of what may be expected. COMMITMENTthe act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself. PLEDGE a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing somethinga pledge of aid; a pledge not to wage war. Law. a. the act of delivering goods, property, etc., to another for security. b. the resulting legal relationshipREMEDY 1.something that cures or relieves a disease or bodily disorder; a healing medicine, application, or treatment. 2.something that corrects or removes an evil of any kind. 3.Law. Legal redress; the legal means of enforcing a right or redressing a wrong.Breach - Violation of duty, right or legal obligation.Law Law4 is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions.5 It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Contract law focuses on what kinds of promises will be enforced by our society and government and what kind of promises will not be binding. Kinds of Law Common Law Code Law Customary Law Muslim Law Mixed Lawcommon law n.The system of laws originated and developed in England and based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws. A system of law that is derived from judges decisions (which arise from the judicial branch of government), rather than statutes or constitutions (which are derived from the legislative branch of government). Decision A judges written conclusion that is arrived at after some period of consideration.CODE LAW Statute A formal written enactment of a legislative body. (Blacks Law Dictionary)Judicial Branch of GovernmentThe Judiciary explains and applies the laws. This branch does this by hearing and eventually making decisions on various legal cases. The Judicial Branch is in charge of the court system. There are three different kinds of courts found in the federal court system.District Court / Local Trial CourtAppellate Court The Appellate Courts handle cases where the losing party believes the decision was wrong or unfair.Appellate Court / Court of AppealLegislative Branch of GovernmentThe Legislative branch, writes laws on a bill. Civil lawCivil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not determined, as in common law, by judges.1The principle of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which apply to them and which judges must follow. It is the most prevalent and oldest surviving legal system in the world. SUMMARYCOMMON LAW LAW based on tradition and depending less on written statutes and codes than on precedent and custom used in the United States.CODE / CIVIL LAWLAW based comprehensive set of written statutes.Key Points1. What is a Contract?A formal agreement, usually in writing, that is enforceable or binding.It is a promise or set of promises for which the law will provide remedy in the event of breach.it is the result of some agreement between 2 or more individuals or groups.The agreement creates some obligations among the parties involved. “freedom to contract” Right of an adult to make a legally binding mutual agreement with one or more other persons, without governmental interference as to what type of obligations he or she can take upon himself or herself. Most people have the right or ability to enter into contracts“freedom from contract”sometimes the law will prevent the enforcement of some contracts because they may be unfair or unjust (called “freedom from contract”). Some contracts are simple and can be formed very easily.Some are more complicated and may require many documents or pages of a written agreement.Not every contract has to be in writing, but it may be wise to put some contracts in writing to avoid disputes as to what the exact terms of the contract are.ELEMENTS OF A CONTRACT 1. Agreement Offer Acceptance2. Considerations3. Legal capacity4. Legal purpose1. AGREEMENTAn agreement is established by an offer and an acceptance.OFFERA: presenting of something for acceptance B : an undertaking to do an act or give something on condition that the party to whom the proposal is made do some specified act or make a return promise OFFER and ACCEPTANCEAs a contract is an agreement, an offer is an indication by one person (the offeror) to another (the offeree) of the offerors willingness to enter into a contract on certain terms without further negotiations. A contract is said to come into existence when acceptance of an offer (agreement to the terms in it) has been communicated to the offeror by the offeree. PARTIES TO AN OFFER Offeror the person who makes an offer Offeree the person to whom the offer is madeRequirements of a legitimate offer:Serious intent by the offeror to be bound by the offerNot legitimate/valid offerThe law provides:Serious intent will be decided by an objective view of the circumstances objective view of the circumstances based on facts subjective view of the circumstances based on opinions2. Reasonably certain or definite termsDefiniteprecise; explicit and clearly defined; known for certain predictable with great confidence 3. Communication of the offer by the offeror to the offereeWhat is NOT an OFFER?Expression of an opinionAn invitation to submit a bidAdvertisementCOUNTER-OFFER . an offer made in response to a previous offer by the other party during negotiations for a final contract. Making a counter offer automatically rejects the prior offer Requires an acceptance under the terms of the counter offer or there is no contract. Example: Susan Seller offers to sell her house for $150,000, to be paid in 60 days; Bruce Buyer receives the offer and gives Seller a counter offer of $140,000, payable in 45 days. The original offer is dead, despite the shorter time for payment since the price is lower. Seller then can choose to accept at $140,000, counter again at some compromise price, reject the counter offer, or let it expire. ACCEPTANCE Acceptance is the voluntary act by the offeree that shows consent to the terms of the offer.Unilateral Contractvs.Bilateral ContractUNILATERAL CONTRACT Definition 1 Contract arising where one party (the promisor) makes an offer to pay another party (the promisee) in return for the performance of an act, and the promisee gives his or her assent by performing the said act. A reward offered for providing certain information is an example of a unilateral contract. Definition 2 Type of contract in which only one of the contracting parties is under an enforceable obligation. For example, under an insurance contract, only the insurer makes a promise (to make a loss good or pay compensation) whereas the insured does not make any promise and, to keep his part of the deal, only pays a premium. In a unilateral contract, only one party to the contract makes a promise. A bilateral contract, is an agreement in which each of the parties to the contract makes a promise or promises to the other party. For example, in a contract for the sale of a home, the buyer promises to pay the seller $200,000 in exchange for the sellers promise to deliver title to the property. Unilateral Contractvs.Bilateral ContractUNILATERAL CONTRACTIn a unilateral contract, only one party to the contract makes a promise. BILATERAL CONTRACT Reciprocal arrangement between two parties under which both parties promise to perform an act in exchange for the other partys act. Acceptance must be unequivocal It must match the terms of the offer.Acceptance must be through the exclusive means of communication authorized by the offeror.Acceptance must be timely in order to be effective or valid.2. CONSIDERATIONSConsideration is the legal concept of value in connection with contracts. It is anything of value in the common sense, promised to another when making a contract. It can take the form of money, physical objects, services, promised actions, or even abstinence from a future action. If either promisee already had a legal obligation to render such payment, it cannot be seen as consideration in the legal sense. In common law consideration it is a prerequisite that both parties offer some consideration before a contract can be thought of as binding.3. LEGAL CAPACITY Sometimes the capacity of either natural or artificial persons to either enforce contracts, or have contracts enforced against them is restricted. Errant employees or directors may be prevented from contracting for their company, because they have acted ultra vires (beyond their power). LEGAL CAPACITYVery small children may not be held to bargains they have made, on the assumption that they lack the maturity to understand what they are doing; NO LEGAL CAPACITY (minor) Another example might be people who are mentally incapacitated, either by disability or drunkennessNO LEGAL CAPACITY (insane)NO LEGAL CAPACITY (drunk)NO LEGAL CAPACITY (drug addict)When the law limits or bars a person from engaging in specified activities, any agreements or contracts to do so are either voidable or void for incapacity. The law on capacity can serve either a protective function or can be a way of restraining people who act as agents for others. 4. LEGAL PURPOSE For a contract to be enforceable under the law, it must have a legal purpose. A contract that requires a party to do sth. in violation of a criminal statute will not be considered a valid one under the national laws of most countries. A contract that has some promises that are legal and some that are illegal will usually be considered invalid. In certain limited circumstances a court might decide to enforce the legal aspects of the contract, but not the illegal aspects.CHAPTER 2 - BInternational Trade RegulationsKey Points1. Vocabularies2 World Trading System3. GATT Principles、4. WTO Agreements5 Antidumping Procedures LEVY - to impose or collect a taxExample: The Singapore Government levied a tax on vehicles using the Causeway. AD HOC for one particular occasion or use.Example: Let us form an Ad hoc committee to help solve the problem of rubbish removal in Student Street INTERIM REPORT Temporary or half-yearly report Example: The interim report shows an increase in the Companys profit of 50% over the same period during the previous year.SANCTION Action against one nation by another when it does not stick to an international agreement.Example: Sanction by United Nations against North Korea for testing LD missiles consists of a boycott on trade against her. PROCUREMENT Getting or purchasing somethingExample: The Procurement Department was asked to obtain better quality products at lower prices from new suppliers.Trading Bloc Is a preferential economic arrangement among group of countries.Formed by agreements among countries to establish links through movement of goods, services, capital, and labor across borders.Economic integration involves agreements among countries to establish links through the movement of goods, services and factors of production across borders.The single market: freedom of choiceFour freedoms of movement:goodsservicespeoplecapitalThese links maybe weak or strong, depending on the level of integrationLevels of Economic IntegrationFree Trade Area (FTA)The Customs Union (CU)The Common MarketEconomic UnionLevels of Economic IntegrationTrading BlocAgreements among countries to establish links through movement of goods, services, capital, and labor across borders.1. The Free Trade AreaA free trade area removes all barriers to trade among member countries, although sometimes only for certain goods or services.A free trade area is the least restrictive form of economic integration among countries; Each country sets its own policies in relation to nonmembers. 1. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)ASEAN includes: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 2. The Customs UnionA customs union is a collaboration among trading countries in which members dismantle barriers to trade in goods and services and establish a common trade policy with respect to nonmembers.A group of countries that agree:1. dismantle barriers to trade in goods and services2. establish a common trade policy with respect to nonmembers.Typically, there is a common external tariff for nonmembers. Tariff revenues are shared among members according to a pre-specified formula.3. The Common MarketA group of countries that agree:a. to remove all barriers to trade among membersb. to establish a common trade policy with respect to nonmembersc. to allow mobility for factors of production-labor, capital, and technology. South American Trading Bloc-MercosurMercado Comun Del Sur Mercosur- was created in 1995 and includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Bolivia.Andean Common Market ANCOMAndean Common Market - ANCOM 1991 - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela4. The Economic UnionAn economic union is a union among trading countries that has the characteristics of a common market and also harmonizes monetary policy, taxation, and government spending and uses a common currency.A group of countries that :1. has the characteristics of a common market2. harmonizes monetary policy, taxation, and government spending3. uses a common currency.The ratification of the Maastricht Treaty created the European Union, effective 1994. The treaty set the foundation for economic and monetary union with the euro as the common currency.Political UnionA group of countries that have common foreign policy and security policy and that share judicial cooperationWhat is Economic Integration?There are how many levels of Economic Integration?What is FREE TRADE AREA?What is CUSTOMS UNION? What is COMMON MARKET?What is ECONOMIC UNION?World Trading SystemA trading system is a group of specific rules, or parameters, used by traders to identify entry and exit points to trade a security or futures . This involves a set of rules that enable a trader to organize his actions in currency trading and control his or her emotional states. GATT The multilateral trading system has been guided by a number of guiding principles. The initial aim is to expand free trade through:1. Tariff reduction worldwide In 1990, tariff rates on industrial countries have fallen to an average of 6.3%Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of June 1930 raised U.S. tariffs to historically high levels. The original intention behind the legislation was to increase the protection afforded domestic farmers against foreign agricultural imports. Massive expansion in the agricultural production sector outside of Europe during World War I led, with the post-war recovery of European producers, to massive agricultural overproduction during the 1920s. This in turn led to declining farm prices during the second half of the decade. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 (P.L. 71-361, sometimes known as the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act; officially the Tariff Act of 1930)1 It was an act signed into law on June 17, 1930, that raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. The ensuing retaliatory tariffs by U.S. trading partners reduced American exports and imports by more than halfAccording to some views may have contributed to the severity of the Great Depression.23 1. Tariff reduction worldwideOne of the achievements of the final rounds of GATT was to increase the amount of trade covered by binding commitments.Refer to table on page 35 of the textbook The World Trade Organization (WTO) was formed in 1995 to replace GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade). New agreements like GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) and TRIPS (the Agreement on Trade-Related aspects of IPR) were signed at this time.GATS The general Agreement on Trade and Services, originally agreed at the WTO in 1994.GATS - Aimremove any restrictions and internal government regulations in the area of service delivery that are considered to be “barriers to trade”. Services can be explained as anything that you cannot drop on your foot. Libraries, schools, hospitals, banks, rubbish collection are good examples of these TRIPS An agreement among members of the WTO to enforce stricter intellectual property regulations This includes granting and enforcing patents lasting at least 20 years and copyrights lasting 50 years. The main objective of WTO is to promote free trade through removal of trade barriers like import taxes and export subsidies. By 1990, tariff rates among industrialized nations have fallen to below 10%.Although membership of WTO has increased by about 100 between 1986 and 1994 (page 35), many Regional trade blocs like the EU (European Union) and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) have been formed. Non-discrimination among different foreign trading partners or against imported goods (i.e. double standards) is controlled by three principles: 1、the Most-Favored-Nation principle (MFN) 2、National Treat