The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and the global green transition are transforming international trade. AI-driven advancements in logistics, supply chains, and maritime transport have improved efficiency and competitiveness, while sustainability imperatives reshape trade policies.

Existing trade rules were not designed for automated decision-making or environment-based measures. This paper analyzes the implications of AI and the green transition for international trade law.

These developments challenge foundational assumptions of trade law, such as human agency, predictability, and linear decision-making. Autonomous, learning algorithms introduce new legal risks, including opacity, unclear accountability, and systemic bias. Climate-driven trade rules impose additional compliance layers interacting with AI-enabled operations. Trade law must balance innovation, regulatory autonomy, and legal certainty amid these shifts.

The analysis uses an integrated framework at international, regional, and national levels. It examines how AI affects liability, transparency, and accountability within the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework, and reviews emerging responses such as the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Automated Contracting, and maritime sustainability initiatives. By situating AI within international economic law, the study evaluates whether current trade disciplines can accommodate technological change and sustainability without undermining core trade principles.

At the national level, the paper examines Egypt’s legal framework—including its AI strategy, data protection, maritime trade law, and environmental commitments—with comparative references to EU and Saudi approaches. This highlights how emerging economies integrate AI into trade governance while aligning with international obligations, and explores prospects for regulatory convergence or divergence.

AI and the green transition necessitate recalibrating international trade law and dispute resolution mechanisms. Green arbitration and mediation emerge as key tools for resolving disputes in technology-driven, sustainable trade. Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms—especially those aligned with environmental objectives and supported by digital tools—offer flexible, efficient pathways to manage the complexity of AI-enabled, sustainability-driven disputes.