Trade in old regime Europe

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterScientificpeer-review

Abstract

In this period, states strove for more control over their international trade routes. However, this was a matter of ideology and planning rather than a reality. Trades were still mainly supervised by chartered companies. States increasingly aimed to restrict exports of their colonial goods to other countries. However, their ‘mercantilist’ approaches did not yield the results that were expected. In attempts to reduce smuggling, private trade became acknowledged more. An aim of consolidating and perfecting colonial trade had more impact in Asia than in the Caribbean. There, geopolitical contexts as well as features of crops precluded strict control. Compared to the previous period, international trade law consisted mostly of treaty law. Some clauses, such as the most-favoured-nation clause, could be opted for in many treaties. Legal borrowing happened, for example, with regard to governance structures in colonial territories, but there was no harmonised law of international trade. Domestic legislation was combined with treaties. Ius gentium doctrine mainly focused on a right of trade. In the later eighteenth century, views of this type were combined with ideas of self-reliance of the economy. Over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, financial markets had become a factor that policy-makers had to take into account. Because of the growing intertwining of state finance, colonial trade and speculation at stock markets, the risk of bubbles rose.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Cambridge history to international law
Subtitle of host publicationInternational law in early modern Europe
EditorsRandall Lesaffer
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Chapter19
Pages620-655
Number of pages36
Volume6
ISBN (Electronic)9781108757355
ISBN (Print)9781108485616
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Apr 2025

Publication series

NameThe Cambridge history of international law
PublisherCambridge University Press
Volume6

Keywords

  • Old regime Europe
  • law of nations
  • trade
  • navigation
  • FCN treaties
  • companies
  • MFN clause

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