Sign in Subscribe

Simon Lester

Simon Lester

Co-founder of WorldTradeLaw.net and China Trade Monitor. Non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute.

http://simonlester.com

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.

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

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

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 The problem, he says, is an outdated system that assigns a given good only one

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

National Treatment in the Renco Investor-State Complaint

And here's the final non-discrimination post of the day. U.S. company Renco Group, on its own behalf and on behalf of its affiliate Doe Run Peru (DRP), has brought an investor-state claim against Peru under the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. The Notice of

Non-Discrimination under GATT Article III:2, first sentence

Here's the third non-discrimination post of the day. Looking over the U.S. responses to the Panel's questions in Philippines - Spirits (DS396/403), it was striking how little discussion of intent/effect issues there was, in comparison with Clove Cigarettes and Tuna, the subject of

National Treatment: Imports from Complainant versus All Imports

For today's non-discrimination post number 2, here's something from the U.S. - Tuna II (DS381) panel's questions to the U.S.: 149. To the United States: You have referred to the treatment afforded to “imported products” under the measures in the context of

The Role of Effect in Non-Discrimination: The Clove Cigarettes Case

There's so much to say about the non-discrimination issue right now that I'm not quite sure where to begin. I've got four posts here today, and for DSC subscribers I also did one on the DSC blog for the Tuna case. To start

Obama's State of the Union Speech: Free Trade and Competition

Here's the speech. I saw a tension between two parts of it. First, Obama makes the point that it's a competitive world out there: Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or