USTR Jobs
USTR has some job openings:
Director for Innovation and Intellectual Property (Attorney) Trade Attorney USTR Intern Position - Summer 2018
Federal Court of Canada hearing Canada's application to set aside Bilcon NAFTA award
For those that may have missed it, the NAFTA Bilcon v Canada dispute was back in the news this week. In 2015, the Claytons and Bilcon of Delaware, a US company, were awarded compensation for breaches of NAFTA Articles 1105 (fair and equitable treatment) and 1102 (national treatment). The dispute
The Negotiating History of Section 15 of China's Accession Protocol
This is from law professor Weihuan Zhou:
The China – EU (US) fight over issues relating to China’s market economy status is attracting growing prominence. In the ongoing EU – Price Comparison Methodologies (DS516) dispute, the WTO panel will need to determine, amongst other issues, whether Section 15 of China’s
The Proposed Level of DSU Article 22 Suspension: Formulas versus Monetary Amounts
DSU Article 22.2 allows WTO complainants, in the event of non-compliance, to "request authorization from the DSB to suspend the application to the Member concerned of concessions or other obligations under the covered agreements." How explicit must they be in this suspension request? Do they have
Job opportunity for PhD candidate in trade law
Linklaters LLP seeks a second year+ PhD candidate or postdoc working on trade law to assist in preparing regular updates on trade matters. The time commitment would be approximately eight hours per week. Location unimportant. Please contact Dr Lorand Bartels (
Lorand.bartels@linklaters.com
) for further details.
Are Trade Disputes a Coin Flip?
This is from Ambassador Lighthizer's statement at the NAFTA press conference today:
Finally, I would like to refer, because I think it fits into this context to an unprecedented trade action that Canada brought against the United States very recently. It constitutes a massive attack on all of
NAFTA and Reciprocity
The 6th round of the NAFTA talks wrapped up today, and my impression of the closing statements was that everyone was relatively positive, much more so than after the 4th round anyway. I wanted to highlight one thing from Ambassador Lighthizer's statement:
Free trade agreements are essentially grants
NAFTA ISDS is Complicated
This is from The Canadian Press:
Canada and Mexico are applying pressure on the United States to decide whether it wants to be part of NAFTA’s investor-state dispute mechanism, threatening to sideline it unless it commits to participating fully.
Multiple sources say the conversation came to a head
Trump Should Give TPP (or CPTPP) A Try-And the TPP Partners Should Stop the Bus to Let Him Get On
Davos has been depressing, a journalist friend emailed me the other day. And indeed the spectacle of the neoliberal elites congratulating themselves on still ruling the world is a downer. But my ears perked up when President Trump, speaking from Davos, suggested that he might be open to participating in
Who Is the Least Protectionist Country in the World?
This is from Inside US Trade:
[Commerce Secretary Wilbur] Ross objected to the “protectionist” label that critics of the Trump administration have attached to U.S. trade actions and rebutted the idea that China could pick up the mantle and be a leader on free trade policy.
“The Chinese have