International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 384)

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Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products under TRIPS

In the comments to another post, two readers suggested a discussion of this memo by the law firm Lalive, written to Philip Morris, entitled "Why Plain Packaging is in Violation of WTO Members’ International Obligations under TRIPS and the Paris Convention." The memo defines "plain packaging"

NAFTA Chapter 19 and the Constitution

I haven't yet gotten to the substantive discussion of the NAFTA Chapter 19 panel finding that zeroing violates U.S. law, but in the meantime let me ask this question: Is there any chance this finding will lead to a constitutional challenge to NAFTA Chapter 19? That'

More on Is the U.S. Manipulating its Currency?

In response to this post, a reader points me to the Annex of a 2007 IMF Decision: ANNEX Article IV, Section 1(iii) and Principle A 1. Article IV, Section 1 (iii) of the Fund's Articles provides that members shall "avoid manipulating exchange rates or the international

Industrial Policy Versus Protectionism

Dani Rodrik argues: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promotes it as a vehicle for creating high-skill jobs. French President Nicolas Sarkozy talks about using it to keep industrial jobs in France. The World Bank’s chief economist, Justin Lin, openly supports it to speed up structural change in developing

ICTSD: The Impact of the Cotton Dispute on Africa

A new report from ICTSD: African farmers could have gained from a 3.5 percent average increase in world cotton prices, if the US had moved quickly to implement the recommendations of an international trade panel, a new study finds. The study, commissioned ICTSD and conducted by Mario Jales of

Is the U.S. Manipulating its Currency?

Scott Lincicome writes: the Canadians ... announced an amazingly sane response to rapid currency devaluation by... wait for it... the United States. Here's BNA (subscription) with the embarrassing details: The government will not intervene in the Canadian dollar's continued increase in value compared to the United States

WTO Rules and the Chinese Currency Issue

VoxEU has a new e-book entitled The US-Sino Currency Dispute: New Insights from Economics, Politics, and Law. Here's the abstract: Thanks to deft diplomatic footwork, a US-China confrontation over the renminbi has been avoided. But the US Treasury has merely postponed the publication of its

Does Zeroing Violate U.S. Law?

A NAFTA Chapter 19 panel (well, the majority, anyway) says yes. An excerpt: A plain reading of the statute requires that all sales be analyzed in the dumping analysis as dumping refers to an aggregate concept. In directing the DOC to analyze aggregate amounts and compare average sales, the statute

WTO Complaint on the Clove Cigarette Ban

As some may have seen in the news, Indonesia is going forward with its WTO challenge to the U.S. clove cigarette ban. Here is the key part of the WTO consultations request: The Government of Indonesia maintains that the ban on the sale of clove cigarettes in the United

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.