Bilateral Investment Treaties Protect U.S. Investors Abroad

In seeking to protect U.S. investors’ rights abroad, the U.S. government has entered into Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) with many countries where such rights are not adequately protected by other agreements. These BITs generally guarantee equal and fair treatment of investments made by investors of one country in the other country. These BITs also provide protection from expropriation, limit the imposition of performance requirements (such as local content requirements or export quotas), provide for market-rate transferability of funds out of the host country, and guarantee international arbitration of disputes with the host government.

As of April 15, 2008, there are BITs in force between the United States and the following 40 countries:

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

For more information, see the State Department's website at: http://tcc.export.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral_Investment_Treaties/index.asp