About TL&D
Founded in 2009, the philosophy of Trade, Law and Development (TL&D) has been to generate and sustain a constructive and democratic debate on emergent issues in international economic law and to serve as a forum for the discussion and distribution of ideas. Towards these ends, the Journal has published works by noted scholars such as the World Trade Organization’s Deputy Director General, Yonov F. Agah, Dr. (Prof.) Ernst Ulrich Petersmann, Prof. Christian Häberli, Prof. Petros Mavroidis, Prof. Mitsuo Matsuhita, Prof. Raj Bhala, Prof. Joel Trachtman, Dr. (Prof.) Gabrielle Marceau, Prof. Simon Lester, Prof. Bryan Mercurio, and Prof. M. Sornarajah, among others. TL&D also has the distinction of being ranked the best journal in India across all fields of law for seven consecutive years by Washington and Lee University School of Law.
Pursuant to this philosophy, the Board of Editors of TL&D is pleased to announce “Into the Future of Global Trade: Tackling Fragmentation, Protectionism, Tariffs, and Beyond” as the theme for its next Special Issue (Vol. XVII, No. 1).
Over the past decade, the landscape of international trade has undergone a monumental shift. The turning of the tide away from multilateralism, signalled by the rise of unilateral tariffs, protectionist industrial policy, and widespread enforcement of non-tariff barriers, has presented us with significant challenges pertaining to legal uncertainties, institutional clarity, and disruptions to global supply chains. Consequently, the governance of international trade is becoming increasingly fragmented — marked by the burgeoning growth of economic treaties such as such as regional and preferential trade agreements, often overlapping with multilateral systems already in place, in addition to conflicting norms of dispute settlement, and intersecting regulatory regimes across the environment, health, digital economy, and national security. These trends mark a shift away from the predictability that once characterised the rules based multilateral trading order, and reflect deeper geopolitical and economic considerations at stake.
The growing reliance on protectionist measures has contributed to an increasingly fragmented global trade regime. While some measures can be argued to be legitimate means of safeguarding state interests and remedying trade imbalances, many have raised concerns regarding legal uncertainties, discriminatory treatment and retaliatory measures in the form of trade wars. The resultant framework — a mix of trade measures lacking regulatory oversight and compliance to multilateral norms has increased the risk of inconsistency and complexity across regimes. As such, an extensive understanding of such policies, their legal soundness, and their interplay with the present institutional framework is essential to analyse their implications for the future of international trade.
While the theme is broad enough to cover a wide range of issues, an indicative list of specific areas is as follows:
- Nationalism/National Security Exceptions and Protectionist Approach to Trade
- Trade Wars and Retaliation
- Data Governance and Protectionism
- Fragmentation of the International Trade Regime
- International Investment Law
- Impact of Protectionist Measures on Human Rights
- Rise of Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
- Trade Remedies
- Trade in the Age of Geo-technology and Critical Materials
- Impact on Developing Countries and Least Developing Countries
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Trade and Climate Change
These sub-issues are not exhaustive, and the Journal is open to receiving submissions on all aspects relating to Rising Protectionism and Fragmentation of Trade and their impact both on the international trade regime and the global trading system.
Accordingly, the Board of Editors of TL&D is pleased to invite original, unpublished manuscripts for publication in the Special Issue of the Journal (Vol. XVII, No. 1) in the form of ‘Articles’, ‘Notes’, ‘Comments’ and ‘Book Reviews’, focusing on the theme “Into the Future of Global Trade: Tackling Fragmentation, Protectionism, Tariffs, and Beyond”.
Manuscripts received by September 1, 2025 pertaining to any sub-theme within the purview of challenges faced by international trade, will be reviewed for publication in the Special issue.
Manuscripts may be submitted via e-mail or the Journal’s website here. For further information about the Journal, please click here. For submission guidelines, please click here.
In case of any queries, please feel free to contact us at: editors@tradelawdevelopment.com
LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS: September 1, 2025
PATRON: Harpreet Kaur | ADVISORS: Raj Bhala | Jagdish Bhagwati | B.S. Chimni | Glenn Wiser | Daniel B. Magraw, Jr. | Vaughan Lowe | Ricardo Ramirez Hernandez | W. Michael Reisman | M. Sornarajah | FACULTY-IN-CHARGE: Bipin Kumar | BOARD OF EDITORS: Alka Nanda Mahapatra | Samiksha Lohia | Aastha Gupta | Akanksha Samantray | Ansh Sethi | Bianca Bhardwaj | Manvi Goyal | Nandini Tripathi | Y. Leela Krishna Reddy| Yug Gandhi | Aaryan Bagrecha | Abir Balia | Annette Sara Abraham | Anshita Tiwari | Divya Chidambaram | Raghunandan N | Ruth Sarah Abraham | Tanishi Ahuja | Arwa Vali | Nomini Rao | Pari Gupta | Samriddhi Babbar | Samridhi Goyal | Shatakshi Goyal | Sanaya Jhunjhunwala | Vagish Kotecha
