International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 424)

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U.S. Beverages Taxes

Taxes on beverages have a long and interesting history in GATT/WTO dispute settlement. I hope Congress keeps this in mind as they consider taxing soda and alcoholic beverages to help pay for health care reform. See here, here and here for details. The last article notes that the soda

Trade Liberalization that Dani Rodrik Can Get Behind

I am often left wondering what Dani Rodrik thinks of trade. I try to parse his various criticisms of the current trade regime, but I still can't figure out where exactly he stands on core issues such as, "Is protectionism a good policy?" Most likely, his

Metric Labeling as a Trade Barrier

The Commerce Department announces a victory with regard to EU metric labeling: The Commerce Department today announced the successful culmination of its efforts to ensure extension of both non-metric and metric labeling provisions on product packaging for U.S. businesses exporting to the European Union—saving U.S. firms

It's World Trade Week

Apparently, May 17-23 is "World Trade Week." See the White House press release here, which concludes: NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do

“Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act”: How Does it Settle the Debate about the Subsidy Nature of An Undervalued Currency?

Even when legal analysts agree that the undervalued Yuan is equivalent to a subsidy under WTO rules, they disagree however about how to find in this instance, “financial contribution”, “benefit” and “specificity”. I was curious to see how the recent draft of the “Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act” arbitrates

The Seals Dispute: The Economist Offers Some Arguments

In this week's issue, the Economist weighs in on the EU's decision to ban most seal products. They make the point that if the EU wanted to promote animal welfare, they had other avenues, closer to home, to do so: ROUGHLY handled, and incompetently stunned, terrified

Important Speeches by Tim Groser

Ambassador Tim Groser, New Zealand’s dynamic minister of trade, gave two important speeches this week. The speeches are posted at http://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/tim+groser. The first speech is titled “Adapting the International Trade Regime to New Challenges: Climate Change.” The speech was delivered on May

Would the US-Korea FTA be good for the WTO system? Can the USA be both for multilateralism and for FTAs?

Those following the proposed Discriminatory Trade Agreement (‘DTA’ – some of you call them FTAs) between the USA and South Korea may be interested in my submission to the Australian government regarding the proposed negotiation of a DTA between Australia and South Korea. You can find it here http://www.dfat.

The Latest on Currency Disputes

I'm going to go out on (somewhat of) a limb, and predict that this legislation, or something like it, will pass and result in a major trade dispute in the near future: US lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled a plan to retaliate against countries, like China, that allegedly manipulate

Is the Intel Verdict Protectionist?

Some people say yes: American technology advocates and legal experts have roundly condemned the EU's decision to fine Intel nearly a billion pounds for breaking anti-trust laws. Grant Aldonas, Senior Advisor at the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), says, "This is a potentially