Trade and Environment

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

From Bloomberg: India won’t bend to demands from the Obama administration or threats from the U.S. Congress to adopt legally binding caps on its carbon emissions, the country’s environment minister told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clintonyesterday. “There is simply no case for the pressure”

I've said before that I am a fan of carbon labeling.  Here's a new example from Sweden: Sweden is developing standards to help consumers make conscious choices about the impact of their decisions on global warming. Products with at least 25% greenhouse gas savings will be

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