International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 108)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Much ado about nothing? The President's Memorandum on Reforming Developing-Country Status in the WTO

Trump's Memorandum on Reforming Developing-Country Status in the WTO issued yesterday aims to "make trade more free, fair, and reciprocal by devoting all necessary resources toward changing the WTO approach to developing-country status such that advanced economies can no longer avail themselves of unwarranted benefits despite abundant

What Does the U.S. Want To See Happen With Appellate Body Reform?

This is from a U.S. statement to the DSB yesterday: * We have listened closely as several Members have criticized the United States. These Members argue that the United States has failed to participate in ongoing discussions on Appellate Body reform. * These statements are wrong – and appear to represent public

Transparency in WTO Disputes

This is from a U.S. statement to the DSB at the July 22 meeting: With respect to the open meetings and hearings that have taken place, the experience has been entirely successful. The United States is not aware of any incidents of improper behavior by observing members of the

Benchmarking under SCM 14(d): How should China’s in-country competition be treated?

Aside from the issue of public body blogged by Simon last week, the issue of market benchmarks under SCM 14(d) is at the center of the AB DS437 (21.5) report. In fact, the issue of benchmarking is more critical than that of public body in this case, since

What Do Critics Think Has Caused Problems With The Appellate Body?

Back in February, the U.S. said the following at a DSB meeting: Rather than seeking to make revisions to the text of the Dispute Settlement Understanding to permit what is now prohibited, the United States believes it is necessary for Members to engage in a deeper discussion of the

Separate Opinion in Today's Appellate Body Report

In today's DS437 Appellate Body report, there was a separate opinion covering several issues. Here is one of the issues (footnotes omitted): 5.5.1 Public Body 5.242. I concur with the majority in: (i) rejecting China's interpretation of the term "public body"

Joe Biden on Trade Policy

In a recent speech on foreign policy, Joe Biden said the following about trade policy (as prepared): Our trade policy has to start at home, by strengthening our greatest asset – our middle class. We have to take care of everything I’ve talked about on the campaign trail – giving every

Will the WTO Negotiations on Fisheries Subsidies adopt a "Caps-Based Approach" Inspired by the National Schedules in the Agreement on Agriculture?

At the 11th Ministerial Conference held in Buenos Aires last December 2017, members agreed to continue to engage constructively in fisheries subsidies negotiations with a view to adopting an agreement by the next 2020 Ministerial Conference . The aim is to agree on disciplines that prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies

New paper on "Judicial Overreaching" at the WTO

Dr. Weihuan Zhou and I have posted on SSRN a new paper on AB crisis. In the paper, we addressed the US allegation that the AB has "overreached" in many cases. We tackle the issue by first reviewing the core function of the WTO, which in our view

The Way To Address USMCA Panel Blocking Is To Eliminate USMCA Panel Blocking

Inside US Trade reports: A leader of the House working group on U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement labor issues told Inside U.S. Trade on Wednesday that he will be traveling to Mexico next weekend to discuss “panel blocking” with Mexican officials. Many congressional Democrats have criticized USMCA for not changing