International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Trade and Development

19 posts

Whither the Worker-Centered Trade Policy?

The Biden administration changed U.S. trade policy significantly when it adopted a “worker-centered” trade policy that justified entering into “frameworks” and not trade agreements. That policy didn’t win many accolades from the trade crowd. Many critics felt that it forewent critical opportunities by refusing to discuss market access

The U.S. “Worker-Centered Trade Policy” is helping some workers in Mexico but not in America

This Labor Day post seeks to shed light on the Biden administration’s “worker-centered” trade policy. It argues that the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) misses a critical opportunity to strengthen workers’ rights in America. The agreement’s provisions exclude protections for the most vulnerable workers in U.S. trade

Fit for Whose Purpose?: How Panelists Interpret Labor Rights in Trade, and What That Tells Us about the Trade/Labor Relationship

While many of us were celebrating the holidays with family, an important law review article dropped silently and inconspicuously into the fray. That article, Fit for Purpose: The Extent and Enforcement of International Trade Agreement Labor Obligations After Guatemala – Labor Obligations Decision, was written by Professor Kevin Banks, who served

Biden’s Worker-Centered Trade Policy: Whose Workers?

As Simon mentioned in an earlier post, various labor-related complaints and requests under USMCA are “heating up.” This activity reinforces the Biden Administration’s new “worker-centered trade policy” that, according to USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai, “will foster broad-based, equitable growth, increase innovation, and give workers a seat at the table.

A Historical Perspective on India‘s and South Africa’s Threat to Block the Implementation of the Joint Statement Initiatives in the WTO, and a Potential Way Forward

Late last week, India and South Africa circulated a paper on the “Legal Status of ‘Joint Statement Initiatives’ and their Negotiated Outcomes” that was widely perceived as a threat to block the implementation of the four Joint Statement Initiatives in the WTO (Peter Ungphakorn has described it as “pouring cold

New AU funding system and the WTO

At its July 2016 summit in Kigali, Rwanda, the AU Assembly held a special retreat to consider new proposals intended to ensure that the AU “is financed in a predictable, sustainable, equitable and accountable manner with the full ownership by its Member States”. The new funding proposal adopted by the

Is there something wrong with this picture? (as painted by the Panel in US-AD/CVD)

I have finally finished reading the Panel report in DS379. What an amazing decision! The Panel has effectively declared the second largest economy in the world as a completely distorted one for the purpose of the SCM. The following are some key points of the decision, and their possible implications:

Alice Amsden on the WTO and Development

I've said before on this blog (although I can't seem to track down where) that I think WTO rules allow developing countries a lot of flexibility to use protectionism (whether they should use it is a harder question). Here's Alice Amsden of MIT making

Using Free Trade to Promote Development

Over at vox, Kimberly Elliott says the U.S. should lower tariffs on imports from poor countries: ... the Doha Round, under the best of circumstances, will take some time to conclude, and the US and other rich countries should move as quickly as possible to further open their markets to

Dani Rodrik on Policy Space

Dani Rodrik argues: Developing nations also need to enshrine the notion of "policy space" in the World Trade Organization. The goal would be to ensure that developing countries can employ the kind of trade and industrial policies needed to restructure and diversify their economies and set the stage