The TRIMs Agreement created World Trade Organization rules for trade-related investment measures such as local-content requirements.
TRIMs stands for Trade-Related Investment Measures. The agreement prohibits investment measures that violate the national-treatment and quantitative-restriction rules applying to trade in goods. Examples include requirements that an investor buy a specified amount of domestic inputs or balance imports with exports.
The agreement was negotiated during the Uruguay Round and entered into force with the WTO on 1 January 1995. It does not regulate every aspect of foreign investment. Instead, it focuses on measures linked to trade in goods that can distort competition or restrict imports and exports.
TRIMs is frequently confused with TRIPS, which concerns intellectual property, and with the SCM Agreement, which disciplines subsidies. Their abbreviations sound alike, but they address different policy areas.