International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 434)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Market Access for Safe Toys

Whenever I am talking with someone about the purpose of the WTO (or trade agreements generally), I like to draw the distinction between discrminatory trade barriers and non-discriminatory trade barriers, with the point being that we may want to treat the two categories differently. Putting aside the difficult question of

Gilston on Trade

I'm not sure I know how to link to this properly, but Sam Gilston of the Washington Tariff & Trade Letter was on C-Span's Washington Journal talking U.S. trade policy. He comes on at about 2:07:30 of the program, so you have to

An Anti-Dumping Case on Toilet Paper

An opportunity for some good puns, as you can probably imagine, courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald.

More on Carbon Taxes

Somewhat related to yesterday's post on using consumption taxes to fight carbon emissions, Congressman Bob Inglis and economist Arthur Laffer argue in the NY Times for a carbon tax that is offset by income tax cuts. In doing so, they say: The United States can’t solve climate

Trade and Carbon Emissions: Consumption versus Production Models

How can we effectively fight carbon emissions, while at the same time limiting trade conflicts that result from such measures? Geoff Carmody explains that the answer is to focus on consumption rather than production: But an emissions production model only works if all nations sign on at the same time.

Investment Protectionism

Claude Barfield worries about recent actions taken to restrict foreign investment: There is, however, one ominous sign of protectionism in an area that is mostly outside the scope of WTO trade rules: foreign direct investment (FDI). The leading advocate of investment protectionism is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has proposed

Rethinking WTO subsidy rules: Should the SCM have an escape clause?

Call it the “subsidy war” or “domestic policy space”, as you wish. The world has dramatically changed over the last three months: governments from the United States to just about every other country have rushed to rescue their economies by pumping trillions of dollars into their financial and manufacturing sectors.

Trade in Everything: Christmas Products

From Jonathan Dingel: The US nominal average ad valorem tariff rate for (12 Days of) Christmas this year, which I calculated using the handy Harmonized (Tariff) Christmas schedule, is only 1.9%. I assume that Santa has MFN status. Drums 4.8% Pipes 0% Milking machines 0% Swans 1.8%

The Great Subsidy War is Coming?

On Dec 22nd, China requested the establishment of the panel in the case against US AD & CVD duties on certain products (steel pipe, tires, etc.). This is the third case China has brought against the US and the 2nd case China brought against US CVD practices. There are several

Krugman on Reducing the Trade Deficit

Paul Krugman writes: A more plausible route to sustained recovery would be a drastic reduction in the U.S. trade deficit, which soared at the same time the housing bubble was inflating. By selling more to other countries and spending more of our own income on U.S.-produced goods,