Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

International Business: Bilateral Investment Treaties:

The United States Department of State keeps an online record of all bilateral investment treaties HERE.

A Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is an agreement establishing the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one state in the state of the other. This type of investment is called Foreign direct investment (FDI). BITs are established through trade pacts.

The U.S. Government has placed a priority on negotiating bilateral investment treaties with countries undergoing economic reform where such treaties may have a significant impact on the adoption of liberal policies on the treatment of foreign direct investment. BITs lay the policy groundwork for broader multilateral initiatives in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and eventually, the World Trade Organization (WTO), for investment in mainstream international economies. BITs assure national treatment or most-favored-nation treatment, establish clear limits on the expropriation of investments and entitle U.S. investors to be fairly compensated, provide U.S. investors the right to transfer funds into and out of the host country without delay using a market rate of exchange, limit the ability of host governments to require U.S. investors to adopt inefficient and trade distorting practices, give U.S. investors the right to submit an investment dispute with the treaty partner's government to international arbitration and give U.S. investors the right to engage the top managerial personnel of their choice, regardless of nationality.

List of countries (subject to change):

Albania
Argentina
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Congo, Democratic Republic Of (Kinshasa)
Congo, Republic Of (Brazzaville)
Croatia
Czech
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Georgia
Grenada
Honduras
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Panama
Poland
Romania
Senegal
Slovakia
Sri Lanka
Trinidad
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay