International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 493)

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More on the Washington State Gambling Case

The complaint filed in Washington state related to the internet gambling ban is available here. I'm a little unclear on the facts, but the basic point in the complaint seems to be that Washington has legal gambling, including poker, and legal internet gambling, such as on horse-racing, but

The Gambling Dispute: Another Front Opens

In addition to the DSU Article 22 proceedings, the GATS Article XXI compensation issues and the U.S. legislative issues, there is now another aspect to the Gambling dispute: a constitutional challenge. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, an attorney in Washington state, Lee Rousso, "sued the state of Washington

Brazil Tyres: The WTO as environmental watchdog

I want to come back to this most interesting Brazil – Tyres case that Joel and Julia already referred to. Three things struck me: 1. Brazil essentially lost the case because it should have been MORE trade restrictive. The Panel basically found (under the chapeau of Art. XX) that if Brazil

What Aspect of a Measure Should be Considered under the GATT Article XX Sub-Paragraphs?

In its first decision, U.S. - Gasoline, the Appellate Body famously (relatively speaking) said: One problem with the [panel's] reasoning ... is that the Panel asked itself whether the "less favourable treatment" of imported gasoline was "primarily aimed at" the conservation of natural resources,

Hudec Conference Redux

If you missed the conference on "Developing Countries in the WTO Legal System" at the University of Minnesota in late May, you can now see most of the proceedings on-line. The draft papers are available there too.

iPod and U.S. Trade Deficit with China

An interesting NYT article today reports that due to using conventional trade statistics, “Even though Chinese workers contribute only about 1 percent of the value of the iPod, the export of a finished iPod to the United States directly contributes about $150 to our bilateral trade deficit with the Chinese.

Zeroing: The Negotiations Begin

In a submission from June 1, the U.S. made its case in the Negotiating Group on Rules for amending WTO rules to allow "zeroing": ... the Appellate Body reports are contrary to what many have long understood to be consistent with the text of the AD Agreement. The

From Online Gambling to Online Everything

It has been clearly established that online gambling is within the WTO's jurisdiction. Now some want to expand the WTO's role in internet matters even further. The Associated Press reports: Once relatively indifferent to government affairs, Google Inc. is seeking help inside the Beltway to fight

Multilateral Currency Rules

In a comment on one of Sungjoon's recent posts, I said the following in response to an earlier comment: ... while a WTO agreement on currencies would be difficult, I think some rules could be worked out on what constitutes "manipulation" or "misalignment." As to

"You Shall not Make the Case for the Complaining (or defending) Party": A Constant Double Bind for WTO Panels Faced with a Hesitant Jurisprudence

A disturbing and recurring theme in WTO Panel proceedings is the accusation that panelists are "making the case" for one of the parties. This is a serious accusation and panelists try to avoid it by repeating the mantra that they are aware of their limits. This mantra however