International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 109)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Sign in Subscribe

Guest Post: US Narrative on Trade Unilateralism: Insights from DS543

This is a guest post from Akhil Raina* & Mattijs Kempynck** Introduction Readers of this blog are all too aware of the many ways in which the United States (US) is rocking the multilateral trade boat: the Appellate Body (AB) is in crisis; there’s an ongoing “trade war” with

What Kinds of Measures Should Trade Agreements Target?

A group of scholars (including Rob Howse of this blog) has a new proposal for how to manage U.S.-China trade relations better. I may comment on the broader proposal at some point (and Rob may blog about it himself), but in the meantime, as I sometimes like to

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: Visualising a Flexible Framework

By Anthea Roberts and Taylor St John In UNCITRAL, states have broken through the impasse of the incrementalist and systemic reformer camps. They have all agreed that they want to pursue systemic reform, but they have different ideas about what that entails and what to prioritise. In broad terms, agreement

Two Faces of (De-) Globalization

Two very different observations on (de-) globalization have caught our eyes lately. First of all, according to the most recent statistics provided by the Global Trade Alert (composed by Prof. Simon Evenett at St. Gallen), pro-trade and investment measures across borders have shown the biggest decline ever for the

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: In Sickness and In Health

By Anthea Roberts and Taylor St. John UNCITRAL Working Group III met in Vienna last week to continue its discussions about how to reform investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). In April 2019, the Working Group agreed that the ISDS system suffered from significant problems and required reform. In colloquial terms,

ISDS Reform: Working Group III Gets Down to Brass Tacks

Last week, multilateral efforts to reform investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) entered a new phase, with substantive discussions of reform options beginning in earnest. As readers of this blog are aware, delegations from around a hundred States have been working multilaterally toward reforming ISDS in the United Nations Commission on

Do the U.S. and EU Have Different Visions for WTO Dispute Settlement and the Appellate Body?

This is from Inside US Trade: The “why question,” according to two sources, is directed at the European Union. The EU has said it does not agree with the U.S. view on the Appellate Body but is willing to work with the U.S. to resolve the issue. The

World Trade and Investment Law Reimagined: A Progressive Agenda for an Inclusive Globalization

This is from Chantal Thomas: This is a late-breaking notice, but for those of you in the DC area, please come to the lunchtime discussion, this coming Monday October 21, of "World Trade and Investment Law Reimagined: A Progressive Agenda for an Inclusive Globalization," just out with

Guest Post: A consensual “Quick-Fix” for the WTO Appellate Body is possible if there is the will!

This is a guest post from former Appellate Body Member Giorgio Sacerdoti: As we all realize, the WTO is heading towards the practical loss of the Appellate Body by 10 December 2019 due to the US blocking of the launching of the selection process to fill the vacancies. The “concerns”

U.S. Comments on "Precedent," DSU Article 11, and AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii)

In the hope of pushing the substantive discussion related to the Appellate Body crisis forward, here is a brief response to a couple points the U.S. made at the General Council meeting yesterday. First up, the U.S. says the following about the issue of "precedent": On