North America

Canada and the United States have signed about 180 investment agreements.

They are both party to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico. Sixty-seven disputes were launched under NAFTA.

NAFTA was recently renegotiated and replaced by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that was signed in November 2018 and is yet to enter in force. The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism between the US and Canada, and between Mexico and Canada has been removed – even though it is included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to which both Mexico and Canada belong. Only limited claims are allowed between the US and Mexico, after exhaustion of local remedies. But the ISDS mechanism has been maintained between the two countries for claims pertaining to Mexico’s oil and gas sector.

The US is also party to the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), with six Central American states. US investors have initiated all 11 known CAFTA disputes.

Canada has an investment treaty with China and is party to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union. CETA includes a revised ISDS mechanism, the investment court system, which has been critiqued for not addressing the core of the problem behind the mechanism.

US investors have extensively used the ISDS mechanism. They have initiated around 180 disputes, over 17% of all known cases, making the US the most frequent home state of investors. The US has never lost an ISDS case.

Canadian investors have initiated about 50 disputes and Canada has been the fourth most frequent target among ‘developed’ states (9th globally), with 29 cases.

Photo: Public Citizen

(April 2020)

KBS | 17-Oct-2022
Should the claims be accepted, the amount the South Korean government has to pay to Lone Star would be reduced to a little over 216 million U.S. dollars.
Korea Herald | 10-Oct-2022
South Korea has spent nearly 68.5 billion won ($48.1 million) in total to fight and settle investor-state dispute settlements since 2013,#including its battle with US-based private equity firm Lone Star, data showed.
Pulse | 3-Oct-2022
The South Korean government is found to have spent nearly $40 million in litigation expenses for its decade-long legal dispute against US private equity firm Lone Star Funds.
Foodwatch | 30-Sep-2022
The trade agreement disempowers the European Parliament and strengthens the influence of corporations.
Médias24 | 16-Sep-2022
Le Maroc et Carlyle ont trouvé un accord qui réduirait les prétentions du fonds d’investissement américain à 14 millions de dollars contre plus de 400 millions initialement réclamés.
Yonhap | 1-Sep-2022
Le ministère de la Justice coréen a exprimé sa volonté de demander une annulation de la décision du CIRDI condamnant la Corée du Sud à verser 216,5 millions de dollars à la société de capitale-investissement américaine Lone Star Fund.
Korea Herald | 1-Sep-2022
South Korea plans to seek annulment of an international tribunal’s verdict to compensate Lone Star Funds in a decade long investor-to-state dispute arbitration.
Yonhap | 31-Aug-2022
Un tribunal internacional ha ordenado a Corea del Sur pagar 216,5 millones de dólares a la firma estadounidense de capital privado Lone Star Funds, poniendo fin a una batalla legal de décadas.
Yonhap | 31-Aug-2022
An international tribunal ordered South Korea to pay the US private equity firm Lone Star Funds US$216.5 million, bringing an end to a decade long legal battle surrounding its sell-off of a local bank.
Yonhap | 31-Aug-2022
Un tribunal international a ordonné à la Corée du Sud de verser à la société de capital-investissement américaine Lone Star Funds 216,5 millions de dollars, mettant fin à une bataille juridique de 10 ans.