International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 139)

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Guest Post: The U.S. and China Rivalry: Geo-Political Context of Free Trade Agreements

This is a guest post from Bashar H. Malkawi (Dean and Professor of Law, University of Sharjah) International trade constitutes a vital lynchpin of the global governance architecture with a staggering $20 Trillion of annual trade. The global trade order consists of trade policies and systems – in particular free trade

The Geoeconomic World Order

Here is the opening of a new blog post from Anthea Roberts, Henrique Choer Moraes, and Victor Ferguson over on Lawfare: We appear to be entering into a new geoeconomic world order, characterized by great power rivalry between the United States and China and the clear use of economic tools

GATT Article XX and non-GATT WTO Agreements

Last week's Thailand - Cigarettes (Philippines), Article 21.5 panel report considered the issue of whether GATT Article XX can provide a defense to claims under the Customs Valuation Agreement: 7.732. Thailand argues that, insofar as the Charges are inconsistent with the provisions of the CVA, such inconsistency

More WTO Complaints Against China, Including an "Adverse Effects" Nullification or Impairment Claim

Along with Jim Bacchus and Huan Zhu, I have a new Cato paper out today on using the WTO to make China more market-oriented. Some of the main points are: -- China's economic ambition is good. The world is better off with a wealthier China. -- However, China does

More on How to Determine Whether a Measure is a Safeguard Measure

In the India - Iron and Steel Products panel report circulated last Wednesday, the panel explained that it would consider the question of whether the measure at issue is a safeguard measure: 7.30. In this dispute, most of the claims have been raised by Japan under Article XIX of the

Investment Arbitration Workshop in Oslo

The folks at Pluricourts asked me to post the following: Call for papers: The ISDS Academic Forum, together with PluriCourts Centre for Excellence (LEGINVEST) and Forum for Law & Social Science at the University of Oslo, will host a workshop on reforming international investment arbitration in Oslo 1-2 February

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: Moving to Reform Options … the Politics

First published on EJIL: Talk! In the last blog, I provided an update on the UNCITRAL process, including the consensus decision from Vienna last week to move forward to consider possible reforms of investor-state arbitration. This decision is very significant. But to get a sense of how this decision

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: Moving to Reform Options … the Process

First published on EJIL Talk! Last week has been described as a watershed moment for ISDS reform. During a meeting in Vienna, states decided by consensus on the desirability of developing reforms in UNCITRAL with respect to investor-state arbitration. States now have an opportunity to make proposals for a

A Watershed Moment for ISDS Reform

Last week marked a watershed moment for the movement to reform investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Meeting in Vienna, Delegations to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III (WGIII) agreed to work multilaterally to reform the resolution of investment disputes. Delegations agreed to focus on

The Problem of Insufficient Notifications

Last year, I mentioned a U.S. proposal on WTO notifications. It looks like the U.S. now has a few others on board: PROCEDURES TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY AND STRENGTHEN NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS UNDER WTO AGREEMENTS COMMUNICATION FROM ARGENTINA, COSTA RICA, THE EUROPEAN UNION, JAPAN, AND THE UNITED STATES The following