International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Accountability at the WTO

From a letter by Daniel Bradlow to the FT: The World Bank and the regional development banks have all created independent accountability mechanisms that can investigate bank-funded operations in which non-state actors believe they have been harmed by the failure of these organisations to comply with their own operational policies.

Chinese Tire Tariffs: A Panel Has Been Requested

I have not seen much written about the U.S. tariffs on Chinese tires since the consultations request was filed. We are now on to the next stage, though, as China has just filed its panel request. At first glance, the main differences between the requests are that the panel

Trade in Everything: Musicians

From the Washington Post (via Reuters): Cuban musicians are returning to perform in the United States after a long freeze on such visits, seizing the opportunity of friendlier overtures toward Havana from U.S. President Barack Obama. Well-known Cuban musicians are being granted visas to perform at U.S. venues

Nuclear Waste, Trade and Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

My post on the WTO-legality of an import ban on nuclear waste generated a fair amount of discussion (including a reference to the movie Back to the Future!), so I thought I'd follow-up with this quote from Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns, who explains his opposition to the import

Will The U.S. Challenge Foreign Trade Remedies At the WTO?

Reuters reports: "It is unfortunate that China decided to impose provisional countervailing duties on imports of grain oriented electrical steel (GOES) from the United States," said Carol Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office. "We do not believe that the imports in

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 --