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As the NAFTA withdrawal rhetoric heats up, it would be prudent to determine whether your company has any claims against a NAFTA government that are covered by the NAFTA investor-state dispute resolution mechanism (ISDS), and, if so, whether your company should prepare to give formal notice of its intention to bring such claims.  Given the NAFTA requirement that such notice be given at least ninety days in advance, and given the agreement’s six-month termination notice provision, your company may have only three months to give the notice in the event the US (or Canada or Mexico) issues a NAFTA termination notice.  If the claims arise under contracts that provide for acceptable dispute resolution mechanisms, the company may not need to rely on the NAFTA provisions and therefore not need to worry about the expiration of the trade agreement’s ISDS provisions.

See the more comprehensive analysis of this issue we issued last February: https://www.globalarbitrationnews.com/nafta-in-play-investors-arbitration-rights-2017-02-18/

Author

David Zaslowsky has been practicing international litigation and international arbitration for almost 40 years. He has been Chambers-ranked in international arbitration and also sits as an arbitrator. He specializes in technology cases and is the editor of the Firm's Blockchain Blog and its International Litigation & Arbitration Newsletter.

Author

Edward G. "Teddy" Baldwin is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Washington, DC office who regularly represents multinational clients in international arbitration proceedings and in matters before US federal and state courts. He has extensive experience in investor-state arbitrations before the ICSID and ad hoc tribunals, commercial arbitrations under various rules and institutions, and US litigation. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Mr. Baldwin worked in Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP's Washington, DC office for over 10 years and represented clients in investor-state arbitration before the ICSID and ad hoc proceedings. Teddy Baldwin can be reached at Teddy.Baldwin@bakermckenzie.com and +1 202 452 7046