International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 83)

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The EU Crafts a Compromise on SDT Reform

On February 18, 2021, the European Union (EU) released an annex to the new trade strategy produced by its internal trade policy review, focused on WTO reform. While there are many issues raised in the document, I would like to focus on a few notable changes to the EU’s

The EU's Outreach to the U.S. on WTO DS

The EU announced a new "open, sustainable and assertive EU trade policy" today. The press release is here; a Q & A is here; the main communication from the Commission is here. The most interesting details seem to be in this Annex. In this post, I'm

Exceptions Proposals in the WTO E-Commerce Negotiating Text: Part 2

In my last post, I offered a quick take arguing that, in the context of the WTO e-commerce negotiations, governments should rethink necessity tests in exceptions clauses. I was hoping to make the point as broadly as possible, so I focused on the general exceptions clause in the consolidated

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law, and Development

This is from the Managing Editor of Trade, Law, and Development, a student edited journal based in the National Law University, Jodhpur, India: The Journal is now inviting unpublished manuscripts for publication in its Special Issue on "Trade and Technology: Rebooting Global Trade for the Digital Millennium" (Vol.

ISDS Reform: From the Forest to the Trees of an Appellate Mechanism

Last weeks’ 40th Session marked a first real shift from the forest to the trees. The Working Group turned to far more specific reports by the Secretariat focused on designing an appellate mechanism (per a longstanding compromise dividing time equally between designing permanent institutions and othe

Exceptions Proposal in WTO E-Commerce Negotiating Text

The website bilaterals.org has posted the WTO E-Commerce consolidated negotiating text from December 2020. (This text is still officially restricted on the WTO website as far as I can see). I was intrigued by one of the formulations in the general exceptions provisions (see Annex I, section (6)

SIEL Conversation on RCEP

This is from the SIEL: The Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) is pleased to invite you to its February Conversation entitled ‘The RCEP Agreement’ with Dr Deborah Elms (Asian Trade Centre), Prof. Manjiao Chi (University of International Business and Economics), Prof. James Nedumpara (Centre for Trade and Investment Law,

USTR Announces Key Staff Appointments

As they say, "personnel is policy," so let's talk about the personnel recently appointed to key staff positions at USTR, and think about what it might tell us about a Biden administration trade policy. The top position, of course, is Katherine Tai, and we don'

Guest Post: The Panel Report under the EU-Korea Trade Agreement Concerning Labor Practices: What are the Purposes of Trade Agreements as they Relate to the ILO’s Fundamental Labor Rights?

This is a guest post from Cornell professor Desiree LeClercq: In recent years, workers’ rights advocates have increasingly urged the US and the EU to strengthen the commitments under the labor chapters of their trade agreements. Following up on the innovative labor mechanisms in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement

Undoing the Trump Administration's Trade Legacy: Part One of a Series (I Hope)

From USTR: The United States takes note of today’s decision by the Republic of Korea’s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee to withdraw her candidacy for Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of