On Force Majeure In Foreign-related Commercial Contracts

In the process of performing a foreign-related commercial contract,the breaching party may claim force majeure,difficult situation,circumstance change and so on for defense.Civil law countries generally make provisions on force majeure in the form of written law,while common law countries stipulate force majeure in the form of "frustration of contract" theory.In a foreign-related commercial contract,if the force majeure defined by law and the force majeure clause are completely consistent in terms of connotation and extension,they shall not be regarded as contract clauses.When a force majeure clause exceeds the force majeure part defined by law,it shall be deemed as a contract clause and shall have the corresponding legal effect.Force majeure and change of circumstances belong to two different legal concepts,and there are essential differences between them,so they should be treated differently.Invoking the Force Majeure in a foreign commercial contract may result in the suspension of the statute of limitations,the termination of the contract,and the total or partial exemption from liability.After the empirical analysis of force majeure rules in foreign commercial contracts in China,it is found that there are some problems at present,such as the higher identification standard of force majeure,the limited scope of application and the inflexible force majeure clauses in foreign-related commercial contracts.In light of the current difficulties in the application of force majeure rules in foreign-related commercial contracts in China,this paper puts forward that in practical practice,we should reasonably apply the determination standard of force majeure rules in light of specific circumstances,further clarify the application scope of force majeure rules and customize the force majeure clauses in light of the actual situation.