International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Trade and Environment

118 posts

Talking Tough on Carbon Tariffs

A difficult question from one of China's representatives to the WTO:"The United States per capita emission rate is four times as big as China's. Does that mean we can impose 400 percent tax rates on all imported American goods? If so, the result is

Trade Versus the Environment: Local Content Requirements for Solar Energy

From thestar.com: The new Ontario requirement that grid-connected solar projects include a minimum amount of local content is causing a stir in Germany, where manufacturers say Canada is breaching its obligations to the World Trade Organization.... The new rules, which went into effect Oct. 1, require that small rooftop

Climate Change Measures and Lost Oil Exports

I have often wondered how oil producing countries would react to lost oil exports if other countries ever begin to take serious action to shift to renewable energy. So far, very little has been done in this regard, so it has not been a big issue. But it does seem

Tom Friedman on Solar Panels

He's concerned that the U.S. doesn't produce enough and will have to import them from China: ... although consumer demand for solar power has incrementally increased here, it has not been enough for anyone to have Applied Materials — the world’s biggest solar equipment manufacturer — build

Jake Colvin (NFTC) Responds to Paul Krugman on Carbon Tariffs

Here are two of the points he makes, from the Huffington Post: 2. Carbon tariffs could ignite a green trade war and harm the U.S. economy. China and India have called U.S. proposals for a carbon tariff unacceptable and protectionist and have hinted at retaliation. Developing countries have

Trade Versus the Environment: Imported Toyota Hybrids

From Bloomberg: Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest seller of autos powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity, faces a patent-infringement claim that may result in a U.S. import ban on its Prius and other hybrid models. Closely held Paice LLC filed a complaint yesterday with the

Yet More on Solar Panel Dumping

As a follow up on these two posts, The Australian reports the following: THE Coalition has called for an urgent investigation into the potential dumping of cut-price Chinese solar panels into Australia, which threatens to undermine a fledgling domestic solar power industry.Federal opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt wrote to

Trade and Solar Power

From a NY Times article about Chinese production of solar panels, here are several trade issues that arise: SubsidiesSince March, Chinese governments at the national, provincial and even local level have been competing with one another to offer solar companies ever more generous subsidies, including free land, and cash for

The Problem of Waste Disposal in International Trade

A city tries to make sure its electronics waste does not get sent overseas: Seven months after one company bid on a $40,000 contract to recycle the electronics Jacksonville residents put out with their trash, City Hall plans to start over from scratch. The reason: fear that those old

The Impact of Ethanol Tariffs

From a letter sent by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and USTR Ron Kirk to Senator Chuck Grassley: The Obama Administration is committed to developing our domestic biofuels industry in order to reduce US dependence on oil imports and increase our use of renewable energy sources. There has been no