International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Fine-Tuning the Discrimination Against Foreign Ethanol

From a press release related to a Senate bill to reduce ethanol tariffs: U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) today introduced a bipartisan measure with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to reduce the tariff on imported ethanol. If passed, the legislation would allow U.S. refiners to purchase cheaper and more

The Global Trade Watch Vision of Trade Agreements

I've often wondered what trade critics like Global Trade Watch thought trade rules should look like. They don't like what we have now, but what do they want? Now I have a better idea of this, as they have endorsed a new House trade bill. Here&

ASIL IELIG Conference on "The Politics of International Economic Law"

From the ASIL's International Economic Law Interest Group: "The ASIL's International Economic Law Interest Group will hold its biennial conference in Washington this year just after the U.S. Presidential election, on the timely theme of "The Politics of International Economic Law: The Next

Lamy on Unilateral Trade Measures

In a recent speech to the European Parliament, WTO DG Pascal Lamy had this to say in the context of efforts to fight climate change: Many of those advocating a “go-it-alone” approach draw on WTO jurisprudence, in particular on the Shrimp-Turtle reports from the WTO Appellate Body to argue that

An "American Union"

Jim Hoagland of the Washington Post has this suggestion for Barack Obama: Here's one example of new thinking he should pursue: The United States should apply to relations with hemispheric neighbors many of the lessons of the European Union and its half-century of economic and political integration. A

The WTO in Geneva

Following up on this old post, apparently the Swiss government has decided to spend the money necessary to keep the WTO headquartered in Geneva: The Swiss government says it will give SFr45 million ($43 million) for the renovation and expansion of the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva. In a

Trade in Everything: Rocket Launches and Space Labs

From the AP: Space shuttle Discovery blasted off a seaside launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday to deliver Japan's huge new research laboratory to the International Space Station . ... Kibo, a complex that cost Japan about $2 billion to manufacture, is being installed aboard

Winners and Losers from Free Trade

Via Greg Mankiw, I see that Economist Robert Driskill asks this question in an article in Foreign Policy: What if free trade is making a small percentage of the country much better off, but is hurting a much greater percentage (the “Joe Sixpacks”), as some argue is the case? Here&

Update on the Zeroing Negotiations

The Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules has issued a new working document: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/rulesneg_e/rules_may08_annexa_e.doc Of course, I skipped right to the zeroing part. Here's what the Chairman's Text (TN/RL/W/213)

Justice Kennedy for the Appellate Body?

If we can't stop internal domestic discrimination, how are we ever going to stop it in the international arena? The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Davis v. Kentucky Department of Revenue dealt with the issue of explict tax discrimination against out-of-staters. As explained on ScotusWiki: At