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

The Attack on the Appellate Body- Events of 5 December 2019 Steve Charnovitz A story on World Trade Online by Hannah Monicken just crossed my desk in which she wrote: "Even those who do not view Zdouc as part of the problem could begin to view his now-public

I have been asked by several people what will happen with the 10 pending appeals that will (apparently) not be carried over next week. Indeed, according to press reports only 4 of the 14 currently pending appeals, for which hearings already took place, will continue under Rule 15 (Note that,

Steve Charnovitz At today's DSB meeting, press reports state that the US representative "charged that China and the EU, in calling for the continued use of Rule 15, were supporting what the U.S. sees as the Appellate Body’s blatant rule breaking."  In addition, the

Steve Charnovitz 3 December 2019 I was delighted to see the open letter from two current and one former member of the Appellate Body disputing yesterday's news item that various Appellate Body members are seeking the ouster of the Director of the Appellate Body Secretariat. When I wrote

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

Nicolas’ post on how unilateral retaliation may limit “appeals into the void” reminds me of a misleading statement I keep reading in the press these days. Many seem to believe that with the demise of the Appellate Body (AB), the WTO will lose its “bite”, i.e., that pre-Dec.

Comments on the Appellator Graham Affair Steve Charnovitz 2 December 2019 A report on World Trade Online this afternoon states that Appellate Body Chair Thomas Graham is threatening to resign from the Appellate Body when his term ends on December 10 unless the WTO ousts the Mr. Werner Zdouc, the

"A WTO If You Can Keep It" Steve Charnovitz 30 November 2019 This is a brief announcement of my new essay "A WTO if you can keep it" published in Questions of International Law, November 2019. The essay provides a historical account of the World Trade