International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 390)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Google, China and the WTO

Google's possible exit from China is all over the news. Are there any trade issues in there? Possibly: Lawyers said that Google and the US might have a legal basis for suing China at the World Trade Organisation, a move that would further complicate relations between Washington and

The WTO Seal Products Dispute: A Preview of the Legal Issues

Here is an ASIL Insight I did on the Seal Products dispute, previewing the legal issues. (Keep in mind that I only had 2,000 words, so it's a fairly brief preview!) An excerpt: One might expect that core WTO principles, such as non-discrimination and necessity, would

Clove Cigarette Update

I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly, but there may be a peaceful resolution to the clove cigarette ban controversy (see here and here for background): Kretek International Inc., importer and marketer of Djarum clove cigars, withdrew its lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug

Attracting Investment: Subsidies versus Weak Labor Laws

There's some disagreement as to whether weak labor laws are used by certain countries to attract foreign investment (or at least, they have that effect, even if it is not their goal). Some critics of trade agreements say that weak labor laws in some countries leads to unfair

The "Human Right" of Free Trade

From Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe: Free trade isn’t a battle that countries (or states) win or lose. It is a human right - the liberty to engage in voluntary transactions that leave both participants better off. If John wants to sell something that Mary wants to buy, it

Non-Violation Complaints and the Enforcement of Domestic Labor Laws

In the comments, Susan Aaronson says: The WTO does not cover labor standards explicitly, but policymakers who are concerned about the trade spillovers of China’s labor laws have leverage on China. China recently reformed its labor laws, and it did so in a transparent accountable manner at the national

Subsidies and Clean Energy Competition

Sometimes there's a fine line between protectionism and promoting the domestic economy. From Bloomberg: The Obama administration today announced that 183 companies, including PPG Industries Inc. and Itron Inc., will get a total of $2.3 billion worth of tax credits for clean-energy manufacturing projects in 43

Import Safety and Global Trade

I've always thought that, in theory, import safety and global trade rules shouldn't come into conflict, and that many of the suggestions to the effect that WTO rules restrict what governments can do are exaggerated. On the other hand, in practice, things can be more complicated,

The Single Entity Theory of Sports Leagues

From the NY Times: Is the National Football League a single entity, or a collection of 32 teams that compete against one another every week? The question forms the core of an antitrust case that will be heard by the United States Supreme Court next week. How the court rules

Don Boudreaux on the Chinese Currency Issue

Don Boudreaux is the anti-Krugman on Chinese currency issues. In this piece, he first explains that "a lower-priced yuan causes Americans to buy fewer U.S. products and more Chinese products." Then, assuming arguendo -- more on arguendo assumptions soon in relation to the China - Publications AB