Simon Lester

It's not often that the internal workings of the WTO are discussed in the public sphere, so I'm always interested to read about it when they are.  Inter Press Service reports on the the success of women (or lack thereof) at moving up in the ranks

From Julia Qin: USTR targets FDI Incentives in China The US consultation request in the China subsidy case is now available on the WTO website (DSU358). Of the nine measures cited by the US as evidence of illegal subsidies, seven are incentives offered to foreign-invested enterprises (i.e., companies

How important is "development" to the Doha Round, which is officially titled the "Doha Development Agenda"?  In a recent Q & A, Charlene Barshefsky says that the reference to development was a "false pretense" for the round: [Daniel Altman]: Will the conclusion of the

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

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

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

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

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

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. "