Simon Lester

From Reuters: Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has refused to pass into law a bill that would have returned the country to fixing essential food and fuel prices, a policy abandoned in the 1990s in favour of economic liberalisation. In June, Kenya's parliament passed a bill with

Recall the concern about companies buying up land in developing countries for agricultural purposes (see here and here).  Apparently, it's not just developing countries who are worried.  This is from some discussion in the New Zealand government: Overseas Investment Rules—New Zealand - China Free Trade Agreement 2.

Some big names will weigh in on this weighty issue at a conference in DC, on Sep. 23: The Future of the WTO A conference presented by American University Washington College of Law, the Emerging Dynamic Global Economies (EDGE) Network, and the German Marshall Fund (GMF) Is the WTO ready

In the Office of the General Counsel: The Office of the General Counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Executive Office of the President, is seeking an attorney with experience in international trade law, trade litigation and negotiation. Incumbent provides legal support for USTR personnel in

The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law is pleased to hold the International Law Association (ILA) Asia-Pacific Regional Conference from May 29 to June 1, 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan. The theme of the conference will be Contemporary International Law Issues in the Asia Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges. Paper and panel

Speaking of export subsidies, the U.S. Department of Commerce has rejected an argument that China's currency undervaluation should be considered an export subsidy under U.S. countervailing duty law: Regarding Petitioners’ allegation that China’s currency regime confers a de jure specific export subsidy, the cited foreign

In its other appellant submission in the EC - Aircraft case, the U.S. criticizes certain aspects of the Panel's reasoning under the SCM Agreement Article 3.1(a) export contingency standard.  In particular, the U.S. disagrees with what it says is the Panel's consideration

Here's something from the EC - IT Products case that I'm still thinking through.  The basic issue is this.  The EC is imposing a duty that the Panel found is in excess of its bound rate.  Thus, there is a violation of Article II:1(b)

How do you interpret a colon?  This is from the EC - IT Products panel report: The relevance of the colon to an understanding of the terms in the concession Arguments of the parties 7.862 Japan and Chinese Taipei consider the relevance of the use of the colon in