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Simon Lester

Simon Lester

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

http://simonlester.com

More Trade and the Environment Controversies

We may not have seen the last of the carbon import tax controversy mentioned in the last post, but a more traditional trade/environment conflict is also brewing. The Independent reports: The [UK] Government has claimed that World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules prevent it from banning the controversial use of

Has Stiglitz Been Talking to Chirac?

Perhaps following the advice of Joe Stiglitz, French President Jacques Chirac is talking about some sort of sanction on countries who are not taking sufficient action to protect the environment: President Jacques Chirac has demanded that the United States sign both the Kyoto climate protocol and a future agreement that

More on the China Subsidies Case

Following-up on Joel's post, here are some details on the U.S. case against Chinese subsidies, gathered from around the web. First, there is USTR's press release, which explains that: Several of the subsidy programs at issue appear to grant export subsidies, which provide incentives

A View from the Appellate Body Bench

Here's a link to an article, in a publication called Engineering News, about recent appointee AB David Unterhalter. Among other things, he discussed his goals as an AB Member: But what are his personal ambitions arising from the WTO appointment? “What I would hope, personally, to have achieved

The Gambling Dispute: The Interim Report

Reuters reports that the panel in the US - Gambling Article 21.5 dispute has issued its interim report, finding that the United States did not comply with the original rulings: The United States has suffered a new setback in a four-year-old legal battle with Antigua and Barbuda over

US-Taiwan Times Two

Two recent articles discuss the legal and political aspects of a U.S. - Taiwan FTA, including the role of China and East Asia generally. Claude Barfield of AEI writes: Turning to the political and strategic background to the proposal for a US-Taiwan FTA, it should first be acknowledged that

"Doha round failure will set loose lawyers"

According to Australian Trade Minister Warren Truss. He also said: ... if the Doha round negotiations could not be revived, then differences would move to international courts in coming months. "The lawyers will have a field day," Truss told Reuters in an interview before traveling to Davos, Switzerland. "

"Iraq war costs may affect US farm subsidies"

For those who oppose the Iraq war, there is some small consolation if you also oppose farm subsidies: US Agriculture Committee head Tom Harkin says farm subsidies are likely to be reduced, because the Iraq war is becoming a "black hole" in the US Budget. Mr Harkin says

AAFTA We Hafta?

In an op-ed published in the WSJ (here's a version re-published on another site: http://www.truthabouttrade.org/article.asp?id=6820 ), former USTR Robert Zoellick has called for a new trade initiative in the Americas: This year President Bush and the Democratic-led Congress should

Seminar on Developing Country Participation in WTO Disputes

For those who will be in Brussels on January 23, there is an interesting seminar entitled, "Are developing countries deterred from using the WTO dispute settlement mechanism?" Here is a link with more info and here is a brief description: The dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) is the backbone