The Most-Favored-Nation Clause

1909 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley K. Hornbeck

Probably no single treaty containing the most-favored-nation clause has caused more controversy than that made between the United States and Prussia, May 1, 1828. Certainly none has attracted more attention from individuals and bodies other than ministerial. This being the case, and since this controversy and its issue illustrate, in a variety of phases common to no other single instance, the necessity for careful application of certain of the principles and methods of interpretation indicated, it will be profitable to study the history of German-American most-favored-nation relations in some detail.


1926 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-102
Author(s):  
Irvin Stewart

Apparently no consistent effort has been made to secure a uniform schedule of consular privileges and immunities applicable to all of the states with which the United States has entered into treaty relations. In the entire history of the United States up to the present time there have been only sixteen consular conventions. Some 109 other treaties, however, have secured consular exemptions in varying degrees from many different nations; and the popular most-favored-nation clause has extended the schedule still further. One of the first treaties the United States entered into was a consular convention, that of 1788 with France, but the second consular convention did not come until over sixty years later. During the interval many provisions in commercial treaties had extended exemptions in various countries, so that by 1853 every one of the privileges which are in effect today had been inserted in at least one treaty, and some of them had been repeated many times.



1913 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 708-723
Author(s):  
Samuel B. Crandall

In a communication to the Congress of the Confederation, February 20, 1787, the Netherlands minister protested against an Act of the legislature of the State of Virginia, which exempted French brandies imported in French and American vessels from certain duties to which like commodities imported in vessels of the Netherlands were left liable, as in contravention of the most-favored-nation clause in Article II of the treaty of 1782. This article provided that the subjects of the Netherlands should pay in the ports of the United States no other or greater duties or imposts of whatever nature or denomination than those which the nations the most favored were or should be obliged to pay; and that they should enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, immunities and exemptions in trade, navigation and commerce which the most favored nations did or should enjoy. The article contained no express qualification that the favor or privilege should be extended freely if freely given or for an equivalent if conditional.



1925 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-701
Author(s):  
Wallace McClure

In the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights signed with Germany on December 8,1923, the United States inaugurated an important development of its commercial policy in conformity with the Tariff Act of 1922, Section 317 of which directs the President, if “the public interest will be served thereby,” to “specify and declare new or additional duties” upon goods imported from countries that discriminate against the commerce of the United States. Pursuant to this provision the American Government undertook the negotiation of agreements with other countries both to eliminate existing discriminations and to obtain assurances that existing equality of treatment would be maintained. Preparation for the new series of commercial arrangements included a careful scrutiny of the most-favored-nation clause as applied to customs duties.



1941 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honoré Marcel Catudal

The recent decision of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in the case of John T. Bill Co. Inc. v. United States, C.A.D. 57, 27 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 26,104 F. (2d) 67 (decided May 29, 1939), is of distinct importance in its bearing on the foreign commercial policy of the United States. In this case, an appellate court, for the first time, had squarely presented to it the question of giving effect to the unconditional mostfavored- nation provisions of an American commercial treaty as against a later statute containing no express reservation respecting treaty provisions. This decision may well be regarded as the turning-point in the construction given to the most-favored-nation clause by the American courts.







1919 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 414-414
Author(s):  
No authorship indicated


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Jenkins


Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano

An American Language is a political history of the Spanish language in the United States. The nation has always been multilingual and the Spanish language in particular has remained as an important political issue into the present. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Spanish language became a language of politics as Spanish speakers in the U.S. Southwest used it to build territorial and state governments. In the twentieth century, Spanish became a political language where speakers and those opposed to its use clashed over what Spanish's presence in the United States meant. This book recovers this story by using evidence that includes Spanish language newspapers, letters, state and territorial session laws, and federal archives to profile the struggle and resilience of Spanish speakers who advocated for their language rights as U.S. citizens. Comparing Spanish as a language of politics and as a political language across the Southwest and noncontiguous territories provides an opportunity to measure shifts in allegiance to the nation and exposes differing forms of nationalism. Language concessions and continued use of Spanish is a measure of power. Official language recognition by federal or state officials validates Spanish speakers' claims to US citizenship. The long history of policies relating to language in the United States provides a way to measure how U.S. visions of itself have shifted due to continuous migration from Latin America. Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are crucial arbiters of Spanish language politics and their successes have broader implications on national policy and our understanding of Americans.



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