I was a bit surprised by the ban on incandescent light bulbs in the U.S. energy bill (probably because I hadn't been following the legislation very closely). Usually regulation of this sort consists of higher standards, or maybe occasionally additional taxes, but here we have an outright ban (well, by 2012, anyway). It is not sitting well in some circles, but it seems like an effective way to achieve greater energy efficiency. I wonder why it was possible to achieve a ban here, but in other areas it's difficult even to regulate?
But getting to the trade issues, I haven't seen any mention of trade concerns resulting from this ban. Isn't there an incandescent light bulb producing country out there who is upset by this? I think that any WTO challenge would be rejected, but nonetheless I'm surprised I haven't seen concerns expressed.
