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WTO Disputes

172 posts

Some Quick Reactions to the WTO Panel Report on U.S. - Safeguards on Photovoltaic Products

The WTO panel report on U.S. - Safeguards on Photovoltaic Products was circulated today. Here are a few reactions based on a very quick read of the report. First, it seems like kind of a big deal that a safeguard measure, and in particular a U.S. safeguard measure,

The Beginning, End, and Imminence of Invoking Essential Security at the WTO

With the release of the latest US submission in United States-Origin Marking Requirement (DS597), it is worth thinking about one of the open questions of the GATT security exceptions in today’s climate – what does it mean to take action “in time of” an emergency in international relations? Security exceptions

The Latest U.S. Statement on WTO Dispute Settlement

In a statement at the Informal TNC and Heads of Delegation Meeting today, the United States said this about WTO dispute settlement: On dispute settlement, the United States believes that Members must undertake fundamental reform if the system is to remain viable and credible. The dispute settlement system can and

Making WTO Dispute Settlement Work without the Appellate Body: How the Threat of Unilateral Retaliation Could Be Used to Incentivize the Adoption of Panel Reports

There is a justified fear that, once the WTO Appellate Body goes out of business in a few days, the entire edifice of WTO dispute settlement will collapse like a house of cards. The key concern from a structural perspective is not the demise of the Appellate Body per se,

Is One Panel Meeting Enough?

This is from last week's India - Export Related Measures panel report: 1.3.2 Single substantive meeting of the Panel with the parties 1.9. On 3 August 2018, the Chairperson of the Panel, on behalf of the Panel, held a meeting with the parties to obtain

Do the U.S. and EU Have Different Visions for WTO Dispute Settlement and the Appellate Body?

This is from Inside US Trade: The “why question,” according to two sources, is directed at the European Union. The EU has said it does not agree with the U.S. view on the Appellate Body but is willing to work with the U.S. to resolve the issue. The

A Few Thoughts on the Role of the WTO/AB Secretariats in WTO Disputes

Following-up on Joost's post about his new paper with Krzysztof Pelc on the role of the WTO and Appellate Body Secretariats in WTO disputes, I wanted to offer some brief thoughts. Here's the first one: More seriously, I sort of agree with them, in the sense

Confidentiality of legal arguments in WTO dispute settlement

While the panel report in Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (DS512) is best known for its interpretation of Article XXI of GATT 1994, the report also contains an important ruling relating to transparency in WTO dispute settlement. In this dispute, the EU published its third-party submission on the EU

Toning Down WTO Precedent

This is from last week's China - TRQs panel report: 6.20. The United States requests that the reference to a "well-established principle in WTO case law" in paragraph 7.212 be deleted, since it could be "misunderstood as indicating that prior panel and appellate

The Evolving Role of Precedent in WTO Dispute Settlement

Here are some snippets from today's panel report in the DS534 case (report, addendum with interim review section): 7.56. .... We recall that the panel in US – Washing Machines concluded, relying on the definition of pattern as a regular and intelligible form or sequence, that prices that are