International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 425)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Wolfe on the Special Safeguard "Fiasco"

Robert Wolfe explains how the Special Safeguard Mechanism brought down the latest attempt to move the Doha round forward : The July 2008 attempt by a group of ministers to agree on modalities for the WTO's Doha Round broke down in part because they could not agree on a

Latest Newsletter from SIEL

A summary of the latest Society of International Economic Law ("SIEL") newsletter is below for those of you not yet members of the SIEL ; ) This edition, as well as the previous newsletters, includes information on SIEL and IEL events around the world (more info at www.sielnet.org)

USTR Trade Agenda 2009

While the confirmation hearing of USTR nominee Ron Kirk has been postponed to next Monday, those of us seeking some positive signaling from the Obama administration about its future trade policies will do well to read the 7-page "Overview of the 2009 Agenda" in USTR's 2008

Non-Discrimination under NAFTA Chapter 11

From the claimants' submission in the Grand River Enterprises NAFTA Chapter 11 case: There is simply no room in the language of [the NAFTA Chapter 11 National Treatment and MFN] provisions for reading-in the requirement for an investor to either prove that the measures according less favorable treatment were

China Currency Talk

The rhetoric a few weeks back from Obama's new Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on China's currency "manipulation" has generated a bit of a response. Here's a sampling: The Economist: CHINA has been accused of “manipulating” its currency by Tim Geithner, America’s

A Trade and Environment Success Story

Not all trade and the environment conflicts result in protests outside the WTO. The Economist reports on one success story: UNTIL recently, the glaze on most Mexican pottery contained lead. ... . [As a result,] products were banned from the American market, where their hand-painted beauty could fetch much higher prices than

WTO Dispute Settlement 2008

For those who will be in Geneva next Monday, March 2, the Graduate Institute's Center for Trade and Economic Integration will hold its 2nd Annual "Update on WTO Dispute Settlement," discussing developments in 2008. The program is here.

U. of Chicago Law Faculty Blog on "The Future of the WTO"

The U. of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog is discussing "The Future of the WTO," with posts by Anu Bradford, Daniel Abebe, Greg Shaffer and Richard Steinberg. Steinberg begins his post as follows: "As a location for trade negotiation, the WTO is dead." I'm

Decision out in Byrd Amendment Constitutionality Lawsuit

On Feb. 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision in the interesting case about the Constitutionality of the Byrd Amendment. The name of the case is SKF USA Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Fed. Cir. No. 2008-1005. The question of

Buy America under WTO Rules

With regard to Brazil's possible WTO complaint against the Buy America stimulus provisions, I had been caught up with trying to figure out how Brazil would deal with the GATT Article III:8(a) exemption. However, a commenter pointed out SCM Agreement Article 3.1(b), which I