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WTO Negotiations

32 posts

Surprise! Surprise! The Doha Round Is Still Alive and Kicking!

At long last, a lay of hope shone on the stalemated Doha round negotiation yesterday (July 26th: Beware the time difference.) On the verge of the collapse of the talk, Mon Capitán Pascal Lamy managed to persuade negotiators to continue negotiating by presenting a critical "package of elements,"

What if They Held Trade Talks and Nobody Protested?

From Reuters (via IATP): Some diplomats said the lack of protests also put a damper on the talks, in which ministers are seeking to agree on cuts to politically sensitive farm subsidies and import duties. "It makes me feel less important," joked one official.

The End of the A Contrario Argument?

This post concerns the so-called a contrario argument under the SCM Agreement Illustrative List. The issue is a bit technical, so some background may be in order. To give a brief overview, in the Brazil - Aircraft dispute, Brazil made the following argument in relation to the consideration of its

Zoellick on Trade Politics

My sense is that Bob Zoellick is one of the most well-respected trade people around, so I thought his comments here were worth noting: Whoever wins the U.S. presidency would probably back a global trade pact if a deal can be reached this year, despite Democratic candidates'

Peter Gallagher on the New Agriculture Text

Peter Gallagher looks at the latest WTO agriculture text and finds that it comes up short in many ways. I enjoyed his closing part: The zombie vampire award in this catalog of half-way-measures goes to the “Commodities” section of the text. Here we find a proposal that the

Republicans versus Democrats in the WTO Negotiations

Which party is more likely to complete the Doha Round? According to this WSJ story, the Republicans are saying they are: ... the U.S. administration is using rising protectionist sentiment among the Democrat candidates ... to pressure delegates from around the globe to cut deals fast, while Republicans still hold the

Zeroing: Artificially Higher Margins or Artificially Lower Margins?

From the U.S. statement to the Rules Negotiating Group last week: I’d like to address the issue that has been the focus of so many delegations here today – that is the issue of mandatory offsets or “zeroing.” Dumping margins occur when export prices are less than normal value,

Zeroing Showdown

Reuters reports: The United States squared off against other World Trade Organisation members on Wednesday over its use of import penalties, an issue diplomats see as the latest obstacle to a new global trade deal. The U.S. view: "It is a very serious issue," U.S. ambassador

Peter Sutherland on the Doha Round and Hillary Clinton's Remarks

From an FT interview: CP: Does Hillary Clinton’s intervention suggest that the WTO is effectively finished as the main forum for liberalising trade? PS: Absolutely not. Absolutely not, even if those policies were pursued in an administration in the future I don’t believe that they would have that

More Reaction to the Draft Rules Text

For those in DC: THE AMBASSADOR'S DART BOARD: Responses to the Doha "Rules" Paper Published by Chairman Guillermo Valles Galmés Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:30 – 10:30 A.M. (Registration opens at 8:00 a.m.) The National Press Club 529 14th Street, NW, 13th