International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Uranium Subsidies?

From The Economist: ONE might not have too much sympathy for fossil fuel companies, currently enjoying all the benefits of high coal and oil prices. But they are crying foul in their competition with an (admittedly undersized) non-hydrocarbon fuel—uranium. According to America’s mining act of 1872, framed at

WTO Dispute Settlement 2010: Cases and Developments

If you'll be in Geneva on March 8, you may want to attend this: Fourth Annual Update on WTO Dispute Settlement A Presentation and Debate on Cases & Developments in WTO Dispute Settlement during 2010 Tuesday, 8th March 2011 I 17.00 to 19.00 Background At the

A Panel Request in the Seal Products Case

Reuters reports that Canada is requesting a panel in the Seal Products WTO case (DS400): Canada asked the World Trade Organization on Friday to set up a panel to resolve its dispute with the European Union over the EU's ban on trade in seal products, Fisheries Minister Gail

Environmental Policy Making Through the Tariff Schedule

Frequent commenter Charles Benoit has an article coming out in the Georgetown Journal of International Law entitled "Picking Tariff Winners: Non-Product Related PPMs and DSB Interpretations of “Unconditionally within Article I:1." The SSRN version is here. Here's the abstract: This paper proposes how WTO Members

Implementing Australia - Apples

Australia and New Zealand have agreed (Word doc) on a period of 9 months (from DSB adoption) for implementing the Australia - Apples findings, with the period ending on August 17, 2011. Here's something from their agreement: The agreed period of time for implementation will allow Australia to

International Courts Asking Governments To Help With Interpretation

Speaking of New Zealand and investor-state dispute settlement, in the last post, NZ Prime Minister John Key mentioned the China - NZ FTA, so I looked it up. While skimming through the investor-state provisions, I came accross something I had not seen before: Article 155 Interpretation of Agreement 1. The

Update on New Zealand and Investor-State

Is New Zealand re-thinking its opposition to investor-state? This is from Radio New Zealand: The New Zealand Government could be opening itself to being sued by American multinationals in trade talks - contradicting assurances from Prime Minister John Key. A top United States trade official says New Zealand is ready

Banning Plastic Bags in Stores

The state of Oregon is considering banning plastic bags in retail stores: Oregon lawmakers will consider whether the state should become the first to pass a ban on plastic bags, a measure recycling advocates believe would trigger a domino effect among other states. A bill co-sponsored by two Republicans and

Measuring Trade Flows

In the comments, Susan Aaronson says: In the 1/25 Financial Times, World Trade Organization director-general Pascal Lamy argues that the way we calculate trade flows is inaccurate and is exacerbating tension over imbalances. The problem, he says, is an outdated system that assigns a given good only one country

A Better Way to Argue for Free Trade?

In a new Cato Institute paper, Dan Ikenson and Scott Lincicome question the approach taken by many people who argue for free trade, and propose an alternative. They start things off with a critique of the existing pro-trade arguments: ... in an atmosphere where demagogues peddle myths to mislead the public