This is from The Economist: Twentieth-century trade deals slashed tariffs. Newer ones between rich countries, such as CETA, focus on cutting other barriers to trade. After seven years of haggling, European negotiators dream of European toys and electrical products being sold straight to Canadians, without having to go through

My buddy Bryan Mercurio and I were emailing about the new tobacco carveout in the amended Australia - Singapore FTA, and he suggested that this carveout may violate the fair and equitable treatment obligation.  At first I thought, how would a provision in an investment chapter violate that very chapter? That

From the European Society of International Law:International Conference "The Role of the European Parliament in the Conclusion and Implementation of Agreements on International Economic Law Issues"On 9 December 2016, the ESIL IG on International Economic Law in cooperation with the European Parliament will organize an International

Law prof Jelena Bäumler offers the following thoughts on yesterday's decision by the German Federal Constitutional Court on CETA: Yes, but…- for now! The German Federal Constitutional Court’s judgment on CETA On 13 October 2016, the German Federal Constitutional Court (the Court, FCC) issued its much-awaited

Whether or not the TPP ever gets ratified, the idea for a tobacco carveout seems to have taken hold. Via Tania Voon on twitter, I see that Australia and Singapore have agreed to amend their FTA to include a tobacco carveout. Here's the added text (p. 97) ARTICLE

I'm coming across quite a few people on twitter and elsewhere who seem eager to defend ISDS/investment treaties/investment chapters in FTAs. This blog post will give them another opportunity, in the context of one particular aspect of the current international investment system.  Investment rules typically have

One day, the Appellate Body will be presented with just the right measure and legal obligation to fully elaborate all of the contours of the mandatory/discretionary distinction. Last week's EU - Biodiesel report was not the case to do that, but nonetheless the Appellate Body said some things

In recent posts, I've tried to address whether and to what extent the backlash against globalization is about tribalism and xenophobia-or rather about jobs, equality, and democracy.  According to Ross Douthat in today's New York Times, the new "post-liberal" politics is all

In response to my post about the German constitutional complaint against CETA, focusing on the ISDS issues, Chris Riffel sends the following thoughts: It is contested whether the envisaged establishment of the CETA Tribunal is at variance with the German constitution, notably Art. 3(1) Basic Law, because legal standing

Recently, I mentioned that Trump's advisers had raised the issue of how the use of VAT taxes in some countries but not others might distort trade, if the VAT exempts exports but is applied to imports.  I was thinking about writing something more detailed about this, but thankfully