Trade and Environment

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Gary Horlick raises a number of important issues related to climate change measures and trade: Before we adopt any measures in our legislation, would we like it if other countries adopted the same measures? ... do we want similar import taxes or permit requirements

The Washington Post explains the details of the Waxman-Markey energy bill and argues that such tariffs are unnecessary: ... American firms that pay in order to comply with mandatory limits on carbon emissions would be at a disadvantage competing against foreign outfits whose leaders aren't as environmentally conscious. But

Here's an excellent, balanced look at the carbon tariff issue from the Financial Times.  A short excerpt: Some trade lawyers point out that past WTO decisions have permitted governments to restrict trade in order to protect natural resources. But others say the case law is patchy, and it

In a post entitled "Carbon tariffs — the legal aspects," Paul Krugman quotes Joost Pauwelyn as saying: In sum, if carefully calibrated along the lines suggested above, carbon equalization measures at the border, imposed on certain imports, can be modeled in compliance with WTO non-discrimination rules and/or the

Reuters reports: Proposals to impose "carbon tariffs" on imported products will violate the rules of the World Trade Organization as well as the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, China's Ministry of Commerce said. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said collecting carbon duties

From a NY Times interview: Q. One of the provisions that got added very late to this bill that senators had expressed some reservations about was the one that puts tariffs on goods imported from countries that don't have these sort of restrictions. What do you think of

Paul Krugman is happy with the recent WTO/UNEP report on trade and climate change: There was some question about how the WTO would handle cap-and-trade — whether it would accept the need for carbon tariffs, if some countries (cough China cough) drag their feet, or whether it would adopt a

The Economist reports the following on the latest "cap and trade" proposals in the U.S.: On May 15th Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, the Democratic point-men on climate change in the House of Representatives, unveiled a bill that would give away 85% of carbon permits for nothing,

There's a lot going on in this story about subsidies to U.S. pulp producers.  I'm not sure exactly what all the trade implications are, but it's interesting enough that I'm going to talk about it anyway.  As explained in the article,