International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Section 301 as an Enforcement Tool for the USMCA

This is from Inside US Trade: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday suggested that Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 could be used to enforce provisions in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, senators told Inside U.S. Trade. Following a meeting with the Senate Finance Committee

Communication from Honduras on the Issue of Precedent

This is another very helpful communication from Honduras on the functioning of the Appellate Body: 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. In furtherance of the communication dated 23 July 2018 and reiterating the importance of the Dispute Settlement System within the broader WTO framework, Honduras would like to address the issue of

The Third ISDS Tobacco Carveout

The TPP ISDS tobacco carveout was the first, the Singapore - Australia FTA update was the second. Now we have a third example, carried by Singapore over to the Singapore - Kazakhstan BIT: CHAPTER III: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT SECTION ONE: SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES BETWEEN A PARTY AND AN INVESTOR OF THE

CJEU AG Opinion on CETA ICS

The CJEU AG opinion on the compatibility of CETA ICS with EU law -- that's a lot of acronyms, but I'm sure this blog's readers can follow! -- was released earlier this week (my vague sense from EU law experts is that it is

The 6th Biennial Conference of the Asian International Economic Law Network

The 6th Biennial Conference of the Asian International Economic Law Network (AIELN) will be held by the Institute of Law for Science and Technology, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taipei from 26 to 27 October 2019. This Conference is themed as "International Trade Regime for the Data-Driven Economy:

Panels Composed in the Section 232/Retaliation Cases

For the nine panels established to hear the complaints against the Section 232 measures, the panels have all been composed with the same panelists, as follows: Elbio Rosselli (Uruguay) Esteban Conejos (Philippines) Rodrigo Valenzuela (Chile) For DSC subscribers, you can click the link to see which past cases each has

What Are Trade Rules on E-Commerce Supposed To Do?

Last week, over 70 countries announced that they will be moving forward with e-commerce talks at the WTO: We confirm our intention to commence WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce. We will seek to achieve a high standard outcome that builds on existing WTO agreements and frameworks with

Call for papers: The Legitimate Role for Investment Law and Arbitration in Protecting Human Rights

LEGINVEST and PluriCourts, in collaboration with Monash University and the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, are organizing an international symposium on the legitimacy and increasingly important role for international investment law and arbitration in the protection of international human rights. The symposium will take

Communication from Honduras on the Functioning of the Appellate Body

This communication from Honduras on the functioning of the Appellate Body is very helpful: 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. In furtherance of the communication dated 23 July 2018 and reiterating the importance of the Dispute Settlement System within the broader WTO framework, Honduras would like to address the issue of timelines

Development Status at the WTO: A U.S. Critique

This is from a communication by the United States entitled "An undifferentiated WTO: self-declared development status risks institutional irrelevance": 1.8. There has been much discussion lately about staying committed to the "rules-based multilateral trading system." However, if you look behind the curtains, that system is