The trade principles of Western liberal democracies are at the core of international trade law regimes and standards. Are non-Western societies uniformly adopting international standards, or are they adapting them to local norms and cultural values?

This volume presents a new conceptual approach – the paradigm of selective adaptation – to explore and explain the reception of international trade law in the Pacific Rim. Building on a conceptual discussion of the normative and institutional contexts for international law, the contributors draw on examples from China, Japan, Thailand, and North America to show that formal acceptance of international trade standards through accession to the World Trade Organization and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade does not necessarily translate into uniform enforcement and acceptance at the local level. This book provides compelling evidence that non-uniform compliance will be a legitimate outcome of the globalization of international trade law.

Pitman B. Potter is Professor of Law in the UBC Law Faculty and HSBC Chair in Asian Research at UBC’s Institute of Asian Research. His teaching and research focus on PRC and Taiwan law and policy in the areas of foreign trade and investment, dispute resolution, property law, contracts, business regulation, and human rights. Dr. Potter has published several books, including most recently The Legal System of the People’s Republic of China (Polity Press, 2013) and Law Policy and Practice on China’s Periphery: Selective Adaptation and Institutional Capacity (Routledge, 2011). He has also published over one hundred articles and essays.

In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Potter is admitted to the practice of law in British Columbia, Washington, and California (inactive), and serves as a consultant to the Canadian national law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. He is engaged in international trade arbitration work involving China and is on the panel of arbitrators for the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission as well as several regional arbitral bodies. He has served on the board of directors of several public institutions, including the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada where he is currently a Senior Fellow. He recently chaired the APFC Taskforce Report, "Advancing Canada’s Engagement with Asia on Human Rights: Integrating Business and Human Rights" (2013).

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• Commended, The Hill Times List of Top 100 Best Books for 2012