International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 85)

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FTA safeguard exclusion clauses . Do they bite?

In a recent post discussing the NAFTA/USMCA provision relating to conditional exclusion of FTA partners from global safeguards under the WTO, I stated that "this type of exclusion is unique to a handful of US FTAs". Count on Amy Porges to catch me in a gross error.

US Solar Safeguard: How much discretion is too much?

Yesterday Canada requested consultations under USMCA regarding the “imposition and ongoing application” to Canada of the US safeguard measure on solar measures. Canada argues that the application of the safeguard to Canada violates the US obligation to exclude USMCA Parties from the scope of the safeguard unless imports from that

Guest Post from the European Commission: Candidates for adjudicators in EU trade agreements

This is from Colin Brown of the European Commission: Candidates for adjudicators in EU trade agreements On 18 December 2020 the European Commission and the EU’s Member States initiated a call for candidates to be appointed as adjudicators in EU trade agreements. The aim is to establish a pool

Jake Sullivan on the Biden Administration's Trade Policy Towards China and Towards Allies

Joe Biden's choice for National Security Adviser is Jake Sullivan. Sullivan was on Fareed Zakaria's TV show yesterday, and they had the following exchange: ZAKARIA: ... Jake, one of the things that Joe Biden said on the campaign trail often and forcefully was that Donald Trump'

Enforcement of subsidy provisions in the EU-UK TCA

The EU-UK TCA is here, and it has extensive provisions on subsidies. It is fair to say, I think, that these are the most detailed rules on subsidies to be found in any FTA negotiated to date, which is not surprising, given that they replace the EU’s state

The EU/UK FTA and Trade Remedies

No surprise, but the EU/UK FTA imposes effectively no constraints on trade remedy use between the parties. Eight short, one-sentence paragraphs, with paragraph 8 carving paragraphs 1-6 out of dispute settlement. There is no value-added here beyond an (unenforceable) requirement to consider information on public interest

A Few Quick Thoughts on the "Rebalancing" Provisions in the "Level Playing Field" Section of the UK-EU Trade Agreement

As a Christmas gift of sorts, the UK and EU gave us their new trade agreement yesterday (still needs to undergo a legal scrub I think). There is a long section on creating a "level playing field." Here is a key bit of the part relating to "

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