International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Guest Post: ‘The crown and the jewel’ The rise and fall of the WTO Appellate Body: a critical analysis

This is a guest post from law professor Luca Rubini: In yesterday’s speech in Geneva, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the current USTR, said: “Reforming dispute settlement is not about restoring the Appellate Body for its own sake, or going back to the way it used to be. It is about

Katherine Tai on WTO Dispute Settlement

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai gave a speech on WTO issues in Geneva today at the Graduate Institute's Geneva Trade Platform. Here is the section on WTO dispute settlement: Over the past quarter century, WTO members have discovered that they can get around the hard part of

Birmingham Law School International Economic Law and Policy Working Group Events

This is from law prof Luca Rubini: We are glad to present the first events in the 2021/2022 academic year of the International Economic Law and Policy Working Group (IELPWG), set up in 2019 at Birmingham Law School. The IELPWG is a highly-focused discussion group for those numerous scholars

Soumaya Keynes' Great Special Report on World Trade (and Two Quibbles)

Soumaya Keynes of the Economist has a great six part Special Report on World Trade. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it! (Unfortunately, Soumaya is apparently leaving the trade beat, but this was a nice way to go out). There were two small bits in the environment part that

New GATT Dispute Database from the WTO

The WTO Secretariat has just put out a cool new database on GATT disputes. The official press release is here: The database allows users to search for information relating to the 317 GATT disputes brought by contracting parties from 1948 to 1995. The information provided includes documents such as consultation

The Role of Women in U.S.-China Trade Negotiations

I found this question and answer from CNBC's Kayla Tausche to U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai interesting: Tausche: In the direct talks that took place during the prior administration, the only women that were at the table were the translators. Do you fear that because of Chinese

The Biden Administration's China Trade Policy

I wrote a piece over at China Trade Monitor (still free for now!) on Katherine Tai's speech from yesterday and the Biden administration's developing China trade policy. Here's the intro and conclusions: After months of saying that they are reviewing their China trade policy,

What Would Happen if WTO Members Voted on AB Appointments?

Henry Gao has been making the case that WTO Members should have a vote on appointing AB Members, as a way to get around the U.S. block. I don't think that's likely to happen, but just for fun, I ran a totally unscientific Twitter poll

Guest Post: Eco Oro Minerals Corp. v. Republic of Colombia: some thoughts on an investor’s due diligence

This is a guest post from law professor Yulia Levashova: The investor’s due diligence has become a significant factor in determining whether the legitimate expectations based on the stability of a regulatory framework of an investor give rise to protection under the FET standard. According to numerous recent decisions

Guest Post: Appointing Appellate Body Members by Majority – A Draft Article IX:2 Interpretation

This is a guest post from law professor Geraldo Vidigal (see also my totally unscientific twitter poll related to this issue): With the Biden administration having continued the previous administration’s stance of blocking all appointments to the Appellate Body, the issue of the appointment members by majority is back