Sign in Subscribe

Simon Lester

Simon Lester

Co-founder of WorldTradeLaw.net and China Trade Monitor. Non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute.

http://simonlester.com

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

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 (DS394,395,398)

Pascal Lamy's Lessons of European Integration for Global Governance

From a speech he gave today: The first lesson I would draw is the importance of the rule of law and that of enforceable commitments. Global governance must be anchored in commitments adopted by stakeholders, in rules and regulations with mechanisms which foster and promote its respect. ... The second lesson

More on Trade in Health Services

With the passage of a health care bill this past week-end by the U.S. House of Representatives, I thought it was time for another post on trade in health services. This time I'll rely on an expert, Lior Herman of ECIPE. From the abstract of Assessing

Free Trade Within Canada: For Canadians Only

Bloomberg reports: Northrop Grumman Corp. can’t challenge Canada’s award of a $140 million contract for weapon- targeting equipment to Lockheed Martin Corp. because it isn’t a Canadian company, the nation’s highest appeals court ruled. Only domestic companies can file complaints based on the country’s internal

Trade in Everything: Heart Operations

From the NY Times: No matter what Congress does with health care legislation in the next few weeks, one thing is already clear: the result will not do much to control the climbing costs of medical care in the United States. And that is why many employers and insurance companies

The Tuna-Dolphin Case: The NAFTA-WTO Conflict Heats Up

From a USTR press release: The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced today that the United States has requested North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) dispute settlement consultations with Mexico regarding Mexico's failure to move its "dolphin safe" labeling dispute from the World Trade

Clean Energy Competition

When I read about proposals to reduce tariffs on environmental goods and services, my sense is that, assuming trade negotiators can agree on anything these days, this should be a goal that is achievable. On the other hand, subsidies and discriminatory government procurement in the area of clean energy seem