International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 473)

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More on the Obama Campaign's Contact with Canada

As mentioned yesterday, there have been allegations that the Obama campaign told the Canadian government that the NAFTA threats were just campaign talk. Initial reports suggested no such communication occurred, but there were new developments today: Despite repeated requests, Barack Obama's campaign is still neither verifying nor denying

Trade and Censorship: The EU View

I've mentioned before some suggestions in the U.S. that internet censorship be treated as a trade barrier (see here and here). Now the EU is getting into the act as well: The European Parliament recently passed a proposal to treat Internet censorship by repressive regimes as a

Is the NAFTA Rhetoric Just for the Election?

Yes, according to one report: Did Sen. Barack Obama say one thing privately to the Canadian government about NAFTA -- and something very different during Tuesday night's debate? The answer is yes, according to CTV, a Canadian television network. The network reported Wednesday night that a "senior member&

Trade in Everything: Patriots 19-0 Shirts and Hats

From the AP, what happened to the shirts and hats printed up with the expectation that the Patriots would win the Super Bowl: The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl and ended the season with a perfect 19-0 record - at least it looks that way in Nicaragua. The

Re-negotiating NAFTA: Some Reaction from Canada

In my post yesterday, I asked for some Canadian and Mexican reaction to the Obama/Clinton calls to "re-negotiate" NAFTA. Debra Steger offered some views in a comment. Here are some reactions in the press from Canadian government officals: Trade Minister David Emerson suggested the United States

Is Trade In Food Products Always Bad for the Environment?

From the New Yorker: It is a logical and widely held assumption that the ecological impacts of transporting food—particularly on airplanes over great distances—are far more significant than if that food were grown locally. For example: according to one recent study, factories throughout the world are burning eighteen

How Should I Feel About "Tariff Earmarks"?

I'm not a big fan of earmarks generally. Even if specific projects are defensible, the process just seems fundamentally flawed. But what if the "earmark" is a suspension of a tariff duty? As a free trader, shouldn't I support that? According to this story,

How Important Are Labor/Environmental Standards in Trade Agreements?

As noted many times on this blog, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been making a big deal of the absence of enforceable labor/environmental standards in certain trade agreements, such as NAFTA. But how important would these really be? Dan Drezner gives the following answer: Repeat after me: attaching

Obama/Clinton: "Opt Out Of" Or "Re-negotiate" NAFTA

I was just watching the Obama-Clinton debate in Ohio. Most of the trade stuff was boilerplate, but one point jumped out at me. Both Obama and Clinton stated explicitly that they will "opt out" of NAFTA unless the governments of Canada and Mexico agree to re-negotiate

The Patriot Employers Act under WTO Rules

There has been a lot of criticism of the Patriot Employers Act proposed by Barack Obama and several others (see, e.g., here). A few days ago, I was asked in a comment whether the Act would be consistent with the SCM Agreement. My short answer was that there was