LEGAL RELEVANCE OF DECISION-MAKING LINKAGES AND OTHER TRANSBOUNDARY PROCESSES: THE EXAMPLE OF THEIR IMPACT UPON BRAZILIAN TRADE BARRIERS IN THE "TIRES WAR"/RELEVANCIA JURIDICA DOS ENCADEAMENTOS DECISORIOS E OUTROS PROCESSOS TRANSFRONTEIRICOS: O EXEMPLO DE SEU IMPACTO SOBRE BARREIRAS COMERCIAIS BRASILEIRAS NA "GUERRA DOS PNEUS"

Conventional legal analyses of local policies often rely on formalistic approaches to the domestic legal order. This paper suggests the existence of limitations or "blind spots" in such conventional legal approaches to local policies, which translate into analytical shortfalls regarding cross-boundary processes of determination of the content and structure of legal norms pertaining to local policymaking. The study takes as an example the analysis of a trade policy of import restriction applied to automotive tires adopted in Brazil since the 1990s. The unfolding conflicts regarding this policy, which became known as the "tires war", exemplify the relevance of decision linkages, comprising interactions and tensions among domestic and cross-boundary sources of decision. The paper argues that legal discourse may factor in cross-boundary decision linkages by means of various intellectual tools. Among the possibilities, the paper covers aspects of the notion of partially internationalized checks and balances, the framework of transnational legal ordering (TLO) and of the concept of interportfolio monetary relay. The relevance of cross-boundary decision linkages also prompts the discussion on the role played by global indicators in norm determination, which is shown to be yet another blind spot in conventional legal approaches to local policy-making.