* Law studies at the University of Bielefeld, 1985-87 and the University of Freiburg, 1987-91; First State Examination, 1991, University of Freiburg, Second State Examination, 1994, Stuttgart. The author wishes to thank Professors Ronald Brand, Vivian Curran and Harry Flechtner of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law for their kind assistance.

1. U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Final Act, U.N. Doc. A/CONF. 97/18 (1980) [hereinafter CISG], reprinted in S. Treaty Doc. No. 9, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. and in 17 INT'L LEGAL MAT. 668 (1980). The CISG has been in force in the United States since January 1, 1988. See 52 Fed. Reg. 46014 (1987). For general information on the entry into force in the various countries, see 14 J.L. & COM. 237 (1995).

2. See Volker Behr, Commentary to Journal of Law & Commerce Case 1; Oberlandesgeright, Frankfurt Am Main, 12 J.L. & COM. 271, 271-72 (1993).

3. Accordingly, CISG, art. 7 reads: "regard is to be had to its international character and to the need to promote uniformity in its application..."

4. Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch [Civil Code], § § 459, 462 [hereinafter BGB]. See TIMOTHY KEARLY & WOLFSON FISCHER, CHARLES SZLADITS' GUIDE TO FOREIGN LEGAL MATERIALS: GERMAN 61-72 (2d ed. 1990) [hereinafter SZLADITS].

5. CISG art. 25

6. Id.

7. CISG art. 49(1)(a); art. 25

8. See U.N. CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS ANNOTATED 49-7 (Grant R. Ackerman ed., 1993).

9. BGB, supra note 4.

10. Ulrich Drobnig, General Principles of European Contract Law, in INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS: DUBROVNIK LECTURES 305, 327 (Petar Sarcevic & Paul Volken eds., 1986).

11. See, e.g., CISG arts. 49(1)(a), 64, 73.

12. See CISG arts. 49(1)(a) and 64(1)(a) (providing for avoidance for buyers and sellers following a fundamental breach).

13. Cf. Harry M. Flechtner, Remedies Under the New International Sales Convention: The Perspective From Article 2 of the U.C.C., 8 J.L. & COM. 53, 54 (1988).

14. See ALBERT H. KRITZER, GUIDE TO PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS 498 (1989); JOHN HONNOLD, UNIFORM LAW FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES UNDER THE 1980 UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION § 420 (copyright reprint 1987).

15. See HONNOLD, supra note 14, § 420.

16. On religious grounds or for reasons of public policy, some parties (Muslim countries, for example) either forbid the charging of interest or impose a limit on the rate. See KRITZER, supra note 14.

17. See HONNOLD, supra note 14, § 421.

18. There is only one deviating court opinion by the Landgericht Göttingen, which applied German law without even invoking German rules of conflict of laws. LG Göttingen, 3 O 100/92, Nov. 19, 1992. This decision was not supported by any scholars or other courts. See Piltz, Neue Entwicklungen im UN-Kaufrecht [New Developments in UN Sales Law], NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT [NJW] 1101, 1105 (1994).

19. Einführungsgetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch [hereinafter EGBGB], art. 28, § 2. The EGBGB is the most important supplementary law to the German Civil Code. See SZLADITS, supra note 4, at 65-66.

20. Judgment of October 23, 1991, Nacional de Primera Instancia en lo Commercial No. 10 Buenos Aires (Arg.).

21. See HONNOLD, supra note 14, § 421.