International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Trade in Everything: Shamrocks

Via Marginal Revolution, I have a belated St. Patrick's Day edition of trade in everything: The shamrock (three-leaf clover) is one of Ireland's most recognizable symbols. But demand for "Irish" shamrocks is now so great that the small island nation must import clover

Personal Protectionism

From a recent Economist article: REGGIE CHARLES, the chief executive of High Society Freeride, a maker of skis and snowboards based in Colorado, is keen to wrap his firm’s products in the Stars and Stripes. He is convinced that American customers will be more willing to buy the company’

Tuna Panel Establishment Blocked

From the U.S. statement at today's DSB meeting: • Mr. Chairman, the United States is disappointed that Mexico has chosen to move forward with a request for panel establishment. • The United States considers its dolphin-safe labeling regime central to the protection of the dolphin population in the

Joe Biden Swears in Ron Kirk

I'm not sure this is the analogy I would have gone with: Ron is going to have the responsibility of working toward opening markets throughout the world to create new opportunities and higher living standards for our families, our farmers, our manufacturers, our workers, our consumers, our businesses.

The Real Purpose of Trade Agreements?

From a free trade petition put out by the the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity: But the fact that protectionism destroys wealth is not its worst consequence. Protectionism destroys peace. That is justification enough for all people of good will, all friends of civilization, to speak

Is WTO Adjudication Biased?

From the abstract of a "A Theory of WTO Adjudication: From Empirical Analysis to Biased Rule Development," by Juscelino Colares: The positive theory of litigation predicts that, under certain conditions, plaintiffs and defendants achieve an unremarkable and roughly equivalent share of litigation success. This Article, grounded in an

Foreign Investment Fears Go Both Ways

The AP reports: China denied Coca-Cola Co.'s closely watched $2.5 billion bid to buy a major Chinese juice producer Wednesday, highlighting Beijing's rejection of foreign control over its top companies even as they step up acquisitions abroad. ... Coca-Cola's acquisition of Huiyuan

NAFTA Chapter 20 Suspension in the Trucking Case

News reports indicate that Mexico is going ahead with retaliation in the NAFTA Trucking Services case: Mexico slapped tariffs on 90 American agricultural and manufactured exports on Monday in retaliation for Washington's move to block Mexican trucks from using U.S. highways. Here's the part that

Obama and Lula on Trade in Biofuels

From their recent joint press conference: Question: President Lula said that during their meeting they talked about energy, President Obama talked about a possible partnership for energy within the hemisphere. The question I have is can't this partnership get off-balance? Because there's a lot of

Dani Rodrik Prefers the GATT to the WTO

In the context of writing about what is needed in the field of financial regulation, Dani Rodrik says: In short, global financial regulation is neither feasible, nor prudent, nor desirable. What finance needs instead are some sensible traffic rules that will allow nations (and in some cases regions) to implement