International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Is There a Tires - Auto Parts Link?

As I mentioned earlier today, China has said it will implement the China - Auto Parts WTO decision by removing the offending measure (we don't have the full details yet as to what exactly they will do). A Reuters article on this issue makes an interesting point: China'

Is There Something Other Than a Good or a Service?

There has been plenty of discussion, in various places, about whether a particular item is a good, a service, or has aspects of both. But is there a category outside of goods and services? This is from fn. 394 of the China - Publications case: China considers that a motion picture

China's Implementation in WTO Dispute Settlement

A lot of people have been wondering how China will implement adverse WTO rulings. Well, here's an indication from the China - Auto Parts (DS339,340,342) dispute: China is expected to next week scrap higher tariffs on imported auto parts after World Trade Organization last year ruled that

Will China be the "OPEC of Rare Earth Metals"?

From the Times Online: Global supply of the rare-earth metals [the “green” lanthanide metals used in hundreds of environmental and military technologies], which are vital to the mechanisms of hybrid cars, wind turbines, iPods, lasers, super-efficient light bulbs and radar systems, is 95 per cent controlled by China.

More on Trade in Solar Panels: The Dumping Issue

The other day, I quoted a NY Times article about Chinese production of solar panels as saying:Even with Suntech acknowledging that it sells below the marginal cost of producing each additional solar panel — that is, the cost after administrative and development costs are subtracted — any antidumping case, in the

The Clove Cigarette Case: Indonesia Goes to the WTO

Not a DSU complaint yet, though. Just a communication to the TBT Committee. Here's a link: http://docsonline.wto.org:80/DDFDocuments/t/G/TBT/W323.doc (Note that it's a Word document). In the communication, Indonesia briefly sets out the legal issues, and then has

Filmmaking Subsidies

Speaking of subsidies to service industries, as we were recently, the Economist recently had a good piece on U.S. state subsidies to support filmmaking: All but seven of America’s 50 states now offer incentives to lure filmmakers. Some states refund a portion of in-state production costs, which

Trade and Solar Power

From a NY Times article about Chinese production of solar panels, here are several trade issues that arise: SubsidiesSince March, Chinese governments at the national, provincial and even local level have been competing with one another to offer solar companies ever more generous subsidies, including free land, and cash for

How Not To Avoid Anti-Dumping Duties

From the AP: A Chinese executive has pleaded guilty in a plot to smuggle adulterated honey into the United States, one of two criminal cases on the subject filed this year. Boa Zhong Zhang, vice president of Changge Jixiang Bee Products Ltd. in Henan Province, China, pleaded guilty Wednesday in

The Problem of Waste Disposal in International Trade

A city tries to make sure its electronics waste does not get sent overseas: Seven months after one company bid on a $40,000 contract to recycle the electronics Jacksonville residents put out with their trash, City Hall plans to start over from scratch. The reason: fear that those old