根据美国司法实践中发展出来的Charming Betsy原则,对美国国内法的解释不应该违反国际法。考虑到WTO协定在美国法律体系中不能直接适用,那么WTO协定可否通过Charming Betsy原则发挥其在美国国内法解释中的效力?从美国的司法实践来看,Charming Betsy原则对于WTO协定解释效力所产生的影响处在一个不确定的状态。这种状态反映了美国的法院在国际贸易问题领域对于行政机关解释权的较大尊重,但却不利于保护国际贸易活动者在WTO协定国内实施中所产生的预期利益。

According to the Charming Betsy doctrine,an act of Congress ought never to be construed to violate the laws of nations if any other possible construction remains.With regard to the non-self-executing nature of the Uruguay Round Agreements,it is valuable to explore whether the courts will utilize the Charming Betsy doctrine to interpret statutes in the light of the WTO Agreements.However,the application of the Charming Betsy doctrine by the U.S.courts was quite inconsistent from one case to another.It seems that the courts would like to defer to the administrative interpretation rather than looking for guides from the WTO agreements in the area of international trade.The expectation of the actors evolved in international trade arising out of U.S.implementation of the WTO agreements will not be well-protected in this situation.