The day began with the panel hearing from Third Parties. I had been eagerly anticipating Russia’s debut in WTO litigation but it didn’t happen.  Even though Russia pursued and attained Third Party status late in the game, and was present in the room during the hearing, they stayed

Canada’s oral presentation of the law, and the law as applied to the facts, threw no curveballs, and was a pretty clear and concise précis of its first written submission.  But some of the key fault lines and tensions in Canada’s position also emerged with great clarity. Let’

The public viewing room for the hearings is vast, sunken, dark-it makes the screen on which the images are displayed seem like an old-fashioned camera obscura.  I am reminded of Plato’s cave.  Small cluster of observers huddle in the different aisles of seats—like the gangs and cliques in

On the trip to Geneva for the Seal Products hearings I've been reading Benn Steil's account of the struggle of personalities, ideas and national allegiances in the creation of the post-war international economic order.  This is a fascinating tale, told with a sense of dramatic tension,

I’m intrigued by a speech Thomas Graham gave last week at Hofstra, reported also in Inside US Trade. Mr. Graham (the US member on the Appellate Body) points out that -- with an increasingly diverse WTO membership (think: China and now Russia) and deadlock in WTO negotiations -- the

From an opinion piece in the National Interest: A U.S.-EU deal may simultaneously reverse important trends governing international investment. ... While ISD clauses are widespread, they usually exist within the context of treaties between states characterized by economic asymmetries. For instance, of the more than 2000 bilateral investment treaties

Recall the dissent on the issue of "benefit" in the Canada - Renewable Energy panel report, mentioned here.  It's a fascinating and complex issue, related to whether there is a market in the electricity industry that can be used as a benchmark. In Japan's

From last night's State of the Union speech by President Obama: tonight, I am announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union I was skeptical that this would ever happen, but now it seems to be happening.  It

From a letter to the editor to the Washington Post: The Post’s Feb. 5 editorial “Holding our breath,” on the Food and Drug Administration’s inaction on tobacco-related issues, noted that “flavored cigarettes have been banned” and “menthol cigarettes . . . are still on sale.” Menthol is the most deadly tobacco

Two sentences, from a press release by two U.S. Senators related to a possible US-EU FTA, that are somewhat in conflict: First this: As the U.S. and EU are the two most innovative economies in the world, any successful agreement between us must promote the highest standards of