International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Sign in Subscribe

Simon Lester

Health Care Reform and Trade Liberalization

An AEI event on December 11: Throughout the long debate on health reform, policymakers have overlooked one simple fact: giving everyone health insurance will greatly increase the demand for health services. Without expanding the supply of doctors and the capacity of the health system, health reform means skyrocketing costs and

Tim Groser on Border Tax Adjustments: "anti-dumping or CVD investigation on steroids"

He is not a fan: But my purpose today is to look at the 'stick', trade measures, and the idea of unilateral BTAs, or Border Tax Adjustments in particular. Let me start by quoting Mencken: "For every major problem, there is always a solution that is simple,

Some Carbon Import Tariff Specifics: A 9% Duty

From Daniel Gros over at vox: The Commission has estimated that a carbon price of around the €40-50 per tonne would be required to reach the EU’s 2020 commitments. This would imply, at current exchange rates, about $50-70 per tonne. This might be too high for the US, where

Using a Tariff to Promote Chinese Currency Revaluation

Economist Robert Aliber, writing in the FT: The US can help China make the necessary adjustments toward a reduction in imbalances by adopting a uniform tariff of 10 per cent on all Chinese imports, based on their values when they enter the US. Six months after the establishment of this

Import Bans on Nuclear Waste: The GATT Article XX Defense

The other day, I did a short post on a possible U.S. ban on imports of nuclear waste (the importation would be for processing and disposal here in the U.S.). I didn't say anything about the legal issues, because I thought the conclusion was clear --

Aircraft Update

For those of you wondering, as I have been, when we might see a report in the EC - Aircraft (DS316) case, the Panel has given some guidance: The Panel issued its interim report to the parties in September 2009, and is now in the process of finalizing its report.

Petina Gappah: Trade Lawyer/Author

This blog is mostly about international economic "law and policy," as its title indicates. But it's also about the international economic law "community," which includes the people in it. With that in mind, I'm going to talk a bit about one of

U.S. Takings Law and International Takings Law: The Florida Beach Erosion Case

From the WSJ: The Supreme Court waded into a property-rights dispute Wednesday, weighing whether Florida can restore eroded beaches in front of private homes and designate the newly emerged beach as public property. Erosion threatens nearly 59% of Florida's 825 miles of sandy beaches, according to the state&

Assessing EU Carbon Measures

From Daniel Gros at VOX: Why a cap-and-trade system can be bad for your healthThe purpose of a cap-and-trade system is to help in the fight against global climate change. This column warns that a unilateral approach could increase global emissions by shifting production to more carbon-intensive methods abroad. Acting

China's "Marshall Plan" for Africa

From the FT: The World Bank and Beijing are in discussions about setting up low-cost factories in industrial zones in Africa to help the continent develop a manufacturing base and reverse its declining share of global trade. Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, said Beijing had shown "