In the category of "things that will surprise nobody," the FT reports the following: Two of the world’s biggest tobacco companies are providing legal support to member countries at the World Trade Organisation that are threatening to take Australia to international court over the world’s toughest

From Reuters: A top U.S. Republican lawmaker on T hursday called on the Obama administration to negotiate an investment treaty with China and to increase pressure on the world's second-largest economy to make trade and currency reforms. ... Camp's call for the United States to

A few years ago, I did two posts on the difference between "interpretations" by WTO Members under WTO Agreement Article IX:2 and "clarifications" by panels and the Appellate Body under DSU Article 3.2.  Based on the statements by the Appellate Body quoted in the

That's the way Global Trade Watch sees the 2012 US Model BIT, which was announced on Friday.  They have a tracked changes comparison of the old one and new one.  As far as I can see, there is not much difference in terms of substantive obligations.  Luke Peterson

Speaking of Todd, he also has a long post in which he discusses the timing of implementation in the Clove Cigarettes case, and various options the U.S. might have for implementing. This is just off the top of my head, and I haven't put too much thought

Todd Tucker of Global Trade Watch points to a recent Brazilian ban on all flavored cigarettes: Unless you're an avid reader of Spanish and Portuguese language news wires, you probably missed Brazil's announcement last month of a ban on all flavored cigarettes: cloves, chocolates, and even

As we all know, SCM Agreement Article 3 says that "subsidies contingent, in law or in fact, whether solely or as one of several other conditions, upon export performance" -- in other words, export subsidies -- "shall be prohibited."  So, no export subsidies at all right?  For the

Over at Opinio Juris, some familiar names are discussing a new paper by Joel Trachtman and Greg Shaffer, “Interpretation and Institutional Choice at the WTO.”  Here's how the authors describe the paper: Our article develops a new framework for understanding the drafting and interpretation of the agreements of

For technical reasons, I'm posting this on behalf of Rob Howse: I wanted to respond to Simon and further respond to Todd regarding the reaction to US-Cloves.  In earlier posts I have defended the approach of the Appellate Body in proposing a test of whether detrimental effects

I did two posts a while back on the issue of a U.S. work visa fee.  As the NY Times described it: ... Senator Charles E. Schumer , Democrat of New York, said his staff had come up with an alternative that would not hurt American workers: raising the visa application