International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

CRS Report on Currency Manipulation: Analysis of WTO Legal Issues

From a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report by Jonathan Sanford on Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO, here is some brief analysis of WTO legal issues. SCM Agreement Articles 1-3: Whether currency disputes fall under the WTO’s jurisdiction is a debatable issue. The WTO rules specify that

House Ways and Means China Currency Hearing

It's going on right now, and it's fascinating. There's so much being said that it's hard to summarize. Not sure I'll be able to, at least not right now. You can watch it here [ADDED: Now that it's

U.S. - Poultry from China: WTO Panels Examining Domestic Law

For those who are into this sort of thing, the U.S. - Poultry from China (DS392) dispute has a very interesting issue related to the examination of domestic law. In this case, one of the arguments made by the United States was that the statutory provision at issue, which is

A WTO Litigation Strategy Question

Let's say you are a government who is concerned about the WTO-consistency of a particular measure of a trading partner. You'd really like for that measure to be found in violation of WTO rules. Does bringing additional, less convincing, claims against other measures (perhaps related

The China Currency Issue: The Savings Gap

It has been suggested that the main cause of the U.S. trade deficit with China is the savings gap between the two countries, involving some combination of China saving too much and the U.S. saving too little. From Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach: Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman

More on GATT Article XV:4

A few months ago, I tried to do a quick analysis of one aspect of GATT Article XV:4, in the context of a possible WTO claim related to China’s currency peg. The issue I raised was whether, when arguing that an “exchange action” “frustrates the intent” of GATT

A Summary of China Currency Views

I thought it might be interesting to gather up the various views that have been expressed on the China currency issue. I have two key questions in mind: 1) Is the Chinese currency peg at an (allegedly) undervalued rate bad for the U.S. economy/global economy? 2) If it

Paths to Economic Development: Is Services (Part of) the Answer?

Over at vox, Ejaz Ghani of the World Bank argues that services can play a more important role in development than is generally thought: The story of Hyderabad – the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh – is truly inspiring for late-comers to development. Within two decades, Andhra Pradesh

Tobacco and Trade/Investment Agreements

Tobacco and trade/investment issues are heating up. Philip Morris is suing Norway: Philip Morris Norway (PMN) has announced it’s going to sue the Norwegian state. They claim the ban against displaying tobacco products that came into force on 01 January is illegal. “These regulations prevent adult consumers from

Today's Chinese Currency Post

I don't mean to overdo things with the China currency issue, but it's a hot topic and there's a lot to say about it. So here's today's post, which is about an argument made by Arvind Subramanian in the FT: