What are the advantages and disadvantages of international trade law?

International trade law is the set of laws that governs
trade between nations.  These laws can be created by international bodies such as the
World Trade Organization or they can be created by the governments of the various
sovereign states.

The major advantage of having
international trade law is that these laws can facilitate trade.  When there are laws
that are harmonized and coordinated (rather than conflicting with one another) it
becomes much easier to trade.  Firms trading from one country to another can be more
confident that they know the laws that will govern their transactions.  This reduces the
risk of trade.

The major disadvantage comes not from the
existence of the laws but from poorly made or poorly harmonized laws.  Problems arise
when two countries' laws do not mesh well with one another.  This can lead to trade
disputes and to less trade.

So international trade law is
valuable because trade is valuable.  But these laws are not always good because
different countries have different laws that may not mesh well
together.