When signatories of international agreements fail to comply unintentionally, sanctioning rules designed to deter intentional noncompliance are tested. To provide signatories with the best treaty value, we find that remedies in case of unilateral defection must account for the nature of the inequality between treaty partners, as well as the type of mixed motive game they are engaged in. Trigger type schemes, that rely on punishment by mutual defection, are the norm for sanctioning in treaty texts. Inequality is addressed by proposing that the process leading to retaliation be accelerated when a weaker partner faces the noncompliance of a stronger partner