US draft model BIT
US State Department
Press Statement
Washington, DC
February 5, 2004
Update of U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty ("BIT")
The Department of State and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are leading an interagency effort to update the U.S. model bilateral investment treaty (BIT). The latest draft of the model BIT text is available at the link below.
The model was last updated in 1994. In 2002, Congress approved the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act (TPA), which specifies the principal negotiating objectives for the United States regarding foreign investment provisions of trade agreements subject to TPA. These objectives incorporated many of the principles from existing U.S. BITs. The investment chapters of the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements contained a number of provisions that addressed the TPA objectives, including, among other things, transparent mechanisms to resolve disputes between investors and host countries. The objective of the model BIT rewrite generally is to provide a consistent approach between the investment chapters of U.S. free trade agreements and future U.S. BITs. The State Department and USTR have been consulting their respective advisory committees and the relevant congressional committees on the draft text since late 2003 and intend to finalize the new model text in the near future. These consultations may result in further changes to the text. The Office of Investment Affairs, in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, is the point of contact in the Department for this effort (202-736-4060/202-736-4907).
Released on February 5, 2004
