International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Eligibility Criteria for U.S. Trade Preference Programs

From a statement by USTR General Counsel Tim Reif to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, related to the eligibility criteria for U.S. trade preference programs: First, the criteria were intended to and have achieved four core goals: (1) strengthened the rule of law in

Concurrent AD/CVD Investigations by DOC in the NME Context

Yes, I know, that's a lot of acronyms in the post title! Those who read my previous post on this topic may have noticed that I buried the NME issues towards the end. You may have suspected that was because I wasn't quite sure what to

Old Hawaiian Case Applying GATT (Articles III and XX) Law

I've often seen references to the 1957 Hawaiian court case Territory v. Ho, in which a Hawaiian law requiring those selling foreign eggs to display a "WE SELL FOREIGN EGGS" sign was struck down as a violation of the GATT (via Article VI, clause 2 of

More Krugman on China's Currency Value

I'm beginning to think that Paul Krugman is the only one more obsessed with the Chinese currency value issue than I am (not that I agree with all of his views of the issue, but I do share his interest). As Dan Drezner notes, here is yet another

The Burley Tobacco Producers Make Their Case

From an op-ed by the president of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, in The Hill: Less than a month after Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Washington to lecture President Obama about the dangers of “Buy American” laws, his government passed a “Buy Canada” tobacco ban that violates Canada’s

Staiger and Sykes on Trade Agreements and Domestic Regulation

Robert Staiger and Alan Sykes have posted "International Trade and Domestic Regulation" on SSRN. From the abstract: Employing the terms-of-trade framework for the modeling of trade agreements, we show how "large" nations may have an incentive to impose discriminatory product standards against imported goods once border

IEL Lectureship at University of Edinburgh

Here: Applications are invited for a Lectureship (UE08) in the School of Law from candidates with research interests in either or both of international commercial arbitration and international trade law. Applications would also be welcome from candidates with an interest in international investment law. Candidates may have either a private

Laura Tyson on Foreign TRIMs

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Laura D'Andrea Tyson is concerned about trade related investment measures (TRIMs) in the high-tech sector: Too often foreign governments committed to building their own high-tech economies pressure American companies to outsource their activities. They do this in two ways: by enticing them

Mercurio and Leung: "Is China a 'Currency Manipulator'?"

Bryan Mercurio and Celine Sze Ning Leung have posted "Is China a 'Currency Manipulator'?: The Legitimacy of China’s Exchange Regime Under the Current International Legal Framework" on SSRN. Here's the abstract: While most economists are in agreement that China’s currency is undervalued,

GATT Article XX and Non-GATT Agreements: Will We Get Some Answers in the China - Exportation Case?

There have been some brief references in the jurisprudence recently as to whether GATT Article XX provides an exception to agreements others than the GATT (see here and, to a lesser extent, here), but no substantive findings on the issue. The China - Exportation of Raw Materials case (DS394,395,