A clause in a sales contract requiring the buyer to open a letter of credit creates an obligation for the buyer to have a bank assume an obligation to pay the contract price against documents towards the beneficiary of the credit, i.e. the seller. This obligation to open a letter of credit is enforceable under the law governing the sales contract. Questions arise as to the enforcement and effects of the buyer’s obligation under that law. In particular, whether failing to open the letter of credit, or a non-compliant letter of credit, may entitle the seller to claim certain remedies but exclude others. The author submits that the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”) offers an effective legal framework for the enforcement of a buyer’s obligation to have a bank open a letter of credit under a contract for the international sale of goods. This two-part article discusses the remedies that may follow from a buyer’s breach of a contractual obligation to open a letter of credit pursuant to the CISG. This first part introduces the topic. The final part of the article, which will appear in an upcoming issue of The Banking Law Journal, will analyze the remedies that may follow from a buyer’s breach of a contractual obligation to open a letter of credit pursuant to the CISG, discuss a buyer’s right to suspend performance of a contractual obligation to open a letter of credit and other interdependent obligations, as well as a buyer’s right to stop payment after opening of a letter of credit.