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April 12, 2024
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
cc: Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative
Dear President Biden,
As U.S. law professors and economics professors deeply committed to the rule of law and economic well-
being both domestically and globally, we applaud your expressed opposition to Investor-State Dispute
Settlement (ISDS) and strongly urge you to remove ISDS provisions from existing U.S. trade and investment
agreements.
ISDS provisions included in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) allow
foreign corporations and individuals to bypass domestic courts and initiate proceedings against sovereign
governments before tribunals composed of three party-appointed lawyers from the private sector. In these
proceedings, foreign investors seek taxpayer compensation for domestic measures, such as laws, regulations,
and court decisions, that allegedly violate vaguely defined obligations owed by sovereign governments to
foreign investors. The merits of those rulings are not subject to appeal, but awards are often enforceable
against governments in domestic courts.
