International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Guest Post: Transfer of the International Investment Bank from Moscow to Budapest: A Trojan Horse in the Making

This is a guest post from professors Marcin Menkes and Jerzy Menkes: On February 5, 2019, Hungary agreed to the transfer of the International Investment Bank’s seat from Moscow to Budapest. An international financial institution, which despite Russia’s major stake has already been exempted from EU sanctions, enters

"Why did the Appellate Body feel free to disregard the clear text of the agreements?"

The U.S. keeps asking a question along the lines of "why did the Appellate Body feel free to disregard the clear text of the agreements?" Here's an answer provided by Ambassador Shea at today's General Council meeting: ... For nearly a year, in the

The Discrimination Standard under Section 301

This is from the Section 301 report on France’s Digital Services Tax issued by USTR earlier this week: A. France’s Digital Services Tax Discriminates Against U.S. Digital Companies The evidence collected in this investigation, including witness testimony, written comments, news reports, and expert commentary, indicates that the

Guest Post on Carbon Border Adjustment

This is a guest post from trade lawyer Bernard O'Connor: Reinhard Quick has written a blogpost questioning the idea of a border carbon adjustment. He raises some very good points. It goes without saying that a border adjustment for internal direct taxes must be trade neutral and must

Letter from Mr Ujal Singh Bhatia, Mr Shree B.C. Servansing, and Ms Hong Zhao

In the context of the ongoing Appellate Body crisis, here is a letter to the WTO DG sent by Mr Ujal Singh Bhatia, Mr Shree B.C. Servansing, and Ms Hong Zhao: Dear Director-General, Regarding recent media articles, we have deep concerns about the breach of confidentiality and the misrepresentations

Third Party Adjudication vs. Unilateralism

Here's one more post based on the Trade Talks podcast with Stephen Vaughn: Chad P. Bown 16:43 Can I ask a bit more of the details on the enforcement piece? Is what we're thinking about if there is a deal that has some kind of

Interpretation and Judging at the WTO

Here's more from the Trade Talks podcast with Stephen Vaughn: Chad P. Bown 33:26 But can I ask you, then, where is our constructive proposal to have this conversation? So we haven't gotten it from the Europeans or the Chinese or anything yet, but where

The Role of Voters and Policymakers in U.S. Trade Policy, Then and Now

The recent Trade Talks podcast with former USTR General Counsel Stephen Vaughn was very informative. Soumaya and Chad have been kind enough to put together a transcript of the episode. There's a lot to talk about in there. I'm going to kick things off with one

WTO Dispute Settlement and the Appellate Body Crisis: Insider perceptions and Members’ revealed preferences

Bernard Hoekman sends along this summary of a newly released paper: The Appellate Body crisis usually is presented as the U.S. against the world. Many WTO Members have made clear that they regard a dysfunctional AB as a serious problem for the trading system. One reason is that, depending

Investment Arbitration Reporter Seeks New Contributors/Analysts

This is a great opportunity for young folks in the field of international investment law: Investment Arbitration Reporter is looking for one or more persons to join our team of freelance contributors IAReporter offers specialized reporting on developments in the field of international investment law. We read and digest legal