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Page Number: 8.0

Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

may have to avail himself of an arbitral award in the man-
ner and to the extent allowed by the law or the treaties of 
the country where such award is sought to be relied upon.” 
Id., at 2520–2521. 

Only one article of the Convention addresses arbitration 
agreements—Article  II.    That  article  contains  only  three
provisions,  each  one  sentence  long.    Article  II(1)  requires
“[e]ach  Contracting  State  [to]  recognize  an  agreement  in
writing under which the parties undertake to submit to ar-
bitration all or any differences which have arisen or which
may arise between them in respect of a defined legal rela-
tionship, whether contractual or not, concerning a subject 
matter capable of settlement by arbitration.”  Id., at 2519. 
Article II(2) provides that “[t]he term ‘agreement in writing’ 
shall include an arbitral clause in a contract or an arbitra-
tion agreement, signed by the parties or contained in an ex-
change of letters or telegrams.”  Ibid.  Finally, Article II(3) 
states that “[t]he court of a Contracting State, when seized
of an action in a matter in respect of which the parties have 
made  an  agreement  within  the  meaning  of  this  article,
shall, at the request of one of the parties, refer the parties 
to arbitration, unless it finds that the said agreement is null 
and  void,  inoperative  or  incapable  of  being  performed.” 
Ibid. 

C 
In 1970, the United States acceded to the New York Con-
vention, and Congress enacted implementing legislation in
Chapter 2 of the FAA.  See 84 Stat. 692, 9 U. S. C. §§201– 
208.  Chapter 2 grants federal courts jurisdiction over ac-
tions governed by the Convention, §203; establishes venue 
for such actions, §204; authorizes removal from state court,
§205;  and  empowers  courts  to  compel  arbitration,  §206.
Chapter 2 also states that “Chapter 1 applies to actions and 
proceedings brought under this chapter to the extent that