From Inside U.S. Trade: U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said at a July 1 press conference ministers had failed to "find closure or even narrow the range" of differences on any aspects of how sensitive and special agriculture products should be designated and treated. "The

Today's FT reports that the WTO negotiations are bogged down.  Not a surprise, and it reinforces a kind of facile comparison to the Uruguay Round.  Oh yes, agricultural brinksmanship again.  The parties are playing chicken and the one with the most to lose will swerve at the last

Over at the Becker-Posner blog, Gary Becker says: it is obvious that the present system of farm subsidies in rich nations is a lightening rod for conflict in trade talks with third world countries, while they help their own farmers in highly inefficient ways. Here's the link

Today's FT reports on the flaring of textiles as an issue, with the U.S. partially backing Turkey's position that textiles should be a separate sector, while the EU argues the opposite.  Much of the rest of this article (p. 2) is consumed with the debate

ILuke Peterson of IISD asks:   My question relates to the bilateral negotiations which occur as part of the WTO accession process. I was wondering if there is any precedent for governments to demand non-trade-related concessions of prospective members? For example, might the EU demand that Country X sign

Thank you, Tomer, for informing us about the Softwood Lumber award issued on June 6 under NAFTA Chapter 11. http://worldtradelaw.typepad.com/ielpblog/2006/06/the_sound_of_a_.html The (170+ pages!) NAFTA award offers an interesting contrast to the WTO Appellate Body's recent ruling in

The G8 has just finished another meeting, and reaffirmed its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals--or at least its commitment to encouraging others to meet their commitments.  This reminded me of a refreshing film that I almost saw once, "The Girl in the Cafe."  It is a

From the relative safety of the shadow cabinet, William Hague advocates a transatlantic free trade zone (see BBC report). For the sake of counterfactual argument, what might such an arrangement imply in terms of legal policy? A few basic suggestions for discussion: - The WTO dispute settlement system, which some see