International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 82)

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Countervailing Weak Environmental Protections

This is from a Draft Ministerial Decision submitted by the U.S. under the title "Advancing Sustainability Goals through Trade Rules to Level the Playing Field": Believing that no Member should gain a comparative advantage in trade due to insufficient or unenforced environmental laws, regulations, and standards; ... Recognizing

Some Comments on the Trump Administration's Final Statement to the DSB on the Appellate Body

In what may be the last official statement by the Trump administration on the Appellate Body, Ambassador Shea offered these comments at the December 18 DSB meeting. I have some responses to his comments. I will do this in three parts, quoting him and then responding. First up, he said

Countervailing the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, Part 2

Back in November, I posted about a preliminary US Commerce Department decision to treat certain free allowances under the EU's Emission Trading System as a countervailable subsidy. The other shoe has now dropped, as the DOC on 11 December confirmed its conclusions in the final determinations in Forged

GSP and GSP Conditionality under the Trump Administration

I am somewhat of a skeptic on giving tariff preferences to developing countries, because my instinct is that discrimination in trade relations is bad and should generally be avoided. But with GSP programs, the goal is development and the means is lowering tariffs, and I can see how there would

The Shadows of WTO Irrelevance

The Shadows of WTO Irrelevance Steve Charnovitz 14 December 2020 On 10 December 2020, WTO Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff gave a thoughtful presentation entitled “The WTO must not continue as it is.” In his speech, DDG Wolff warns that “if the WTO does not engage fully with environmental issues,

Guest Post: Leveraging Capacity Building and Technology Transfer under TRIPS for Online Teaching in Africa

This is a guest post by Susan Isiko Štrba of International Lawyers and Economists for Development: COVID-19 caused a number of learning institutions, especially in the developing world, to come to a stand still. On the other hand, developing countries faithfully domesticated international Intellectual Property (IP) standards in an

"WTO cases" in FTA fora: will it be a thing?

How quickly things change. Just a few years ago some trade lawyers were proposing that FTAs refer their disputes to the WTO DS mechanism. Now, it seems that there is a new trend – addressing what are in effect WTO disputes through FTA dispute settlement. This week, an Arbitration Panel under

The Official Announcement of Biden's Nomination of Katherine Tai

Here was President-Elect Biden's introduction of Katherine Tai as his nominee for U.S. Trade Representative (starts at 14:42): For the United States Trade Representative, I nominate Katherine Tai, a trusted trade expert, a dedicated public servant who knows government, and who has spent her career

UK FTAs - EU content and rules of origin

When RCEP came out, analysts emphasized the importance of cumulation rules. While many of the RCEP countries had FTAs among themselves, binding all those FTAs into a single mega-regional meant that all RCEP content would be counted for origin purposes, and this would allow products with complex RCEP value

Katherine Tai Will Be the Next U.S. Trade Representative

Reports indicate that Katherine Tai, Chief Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, is Biden's choice for U.S. Trade Representative. About a month ago, I wrote the following: the job of the next U.S. Trade Representative will be a serious challenge. The person who