International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 381)

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Which Side Takes the Seal Products Dispute More Seriously?

The Economist says it's Canada: Last July the European Parliament voted to ban the importation of seal products. ... Canada and Norway believe that the European ban breaks international trade rules, and have both lodged complaints with the World Trade Organisation. ... The Canadian government clearly takes the issue seriously.

More on Australia - Apples

Following up on Meredith's post, there has been a lot of reporting in the Australia/New Zealand press about the decision. Here is a sampling: » Fruit decision a victory - opinion - blogs | Stuff.co.nz Citing "informed sources", it said the World Trade Organisation had found in

New Zealand - Australia Apples Dispute

The parties have received the confidential version of the panel's interim report in the Apples dispute, and the New Zealand press (citing unnamed officials) is reporting a comprehensive victory for New Zealand. Assuming this is indeed the result, on the one hand it is not surprising due to

Merrill & Ring v. Canada: More About NAFTA Ch. 11 Non-Discrimination Standards

Continuing with my occasional (although becoming somewhat frequent) posts on NAFTA Chapter 11 non-discrimination standards, there is a new decision to talk about: Merrill & Ring v. Canada. The basic facts, from the Tribunal: 26. This case concerns a claim by the Investor in respect of the implementation of

Causes of the China Currency Detente

Assuming we are on our way to a resolution of the China currency dispute, what caused the situation to improve so rapidly, when not long ago the rhetoric was getting quite heated? Dan Drezner sets out some possibilities, along with his view: If China's shift is a real

SIEL Translations: Mercosur TPR Decision, 1/2005

The Society of International Economic Law has just released the first fruits of a trial project it is running, translating Spanish language material related to international economic law into English. The first project has been to translate the first decision of the MERCOSUR Permanent Tribunal for Review (No1/2005), on

Settlements in Cotton and the Chinese Currency Disputes?

There has been some talk of settling two big disputes, the U.S. - Cotton WTO dispute and the Chinese currency dispute. Cotton has progressed a bit further. USTR provides the following details: ... the United States agreed to work with Brazil to establish a fund of approximately $147.3 million per

A Possible WTO Complaint on Credit Card Services

I had seen brief references to a WTO complaint against China related to the credit card industry, but didn't know the details. Here's the argument, as set out by Eric Grover in the Washington Times: Chinese banks have 1.88 billion debit cards and 190 million

GATT Article XII and Trade Balancing

In the comments, Jim Mathis points me to this paper by Terence Stewart and Elizabeth Drake, entitled "Addressing Balance-of-Payments Difficulties under World Trade Organization Rules". The background they provide on GATT Article XII and balance of payments issues is excellent. They pack a lot of information

Treasury Delays the "Currency Manipulation" Decision

As everyone has probably heard by now, Treasury Secretary Geithner announced over the week-end that he would delay the decision on whether to label China a currency manipulator. From the press release: I have decided to delay publication of the report to Congress on the international economic and exchange