Simon Lester

I thought this issue was settled, but apparently not.  From the Korea Herald: The Korea-U.S. free trade pact has resurfaced as a hot-button issue ahead of the April 11 general elections as the liberal opposition parties vow to scrap it should disputed clauses not be renegotiated. ... The

Good for the U.S. anyway; bad for Japan.  From Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp will shift production of its Highlander hybrid sport-utility vehicle from Japan to Indiana, where the company will invest $400 million and add 400 new jobs. The Japanese automaker also plans to export some Highlanders to

It has been a while since I've had an excuse to talk about National Treatment issues in investment treaties, so I'm happy to see the Bilcon NAFTA Chapter 11 case going forward.  As usual, I turn to Luke Peterson for a basic overview of the facts:

Some members of Congress are trying to prevent oil that would go through the proposed Keystone pipeline from being exported: Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and other House Democrats called the bluff of Keystone XL pipeline supporters by introducing a bill that would ensure that the oil and refined fuel

There seems to be some controversy over whether China will comply with the Raw Materials decision.  Personally, I'm not sure there is anything to be concerned about at this point.  Governments are often disappointed when they lose WTO disputes, as are the domestic constituencies that have been affected.

For those of you who are in to treaty interpretation, this is from last week's China - Raw Materials Appellate Body report: 320. In addition, we note that Article XI of the GATT 1994 is entitled "General Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions". The Panel found that this title

Julia was trying to comment on this post, but neither she nor I could make the comment go through, so I'm putting it here as a separate post: Technically, the accession protocol should be an independent legal instrument that establishes China's accession to the WTO Agreement,

Buried in the last paragraph of a NY Times article on the China - Raw Materials case, I saw this: Western governments have periodically considered filing an international trade case against nations in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for limiting oil exports. But they have refrained from filing, having concluded

In the China - Raw Materials appeal (the AB report, circulated today, is here), China argued that "Article XX of the GATT 1994 is available as a defence to China in relation to export duties found to be inconsistent with China's obligations under Paragraph 11.3 of China&

I'm still thinking about the difference between "technical regulation" and "standard" in the U.S. - Tuna dispute.  Here's my latest thought.  Once again, let me quote the relevant language.  The TBT Agreement defines "technical regulation" and "standard" as