Law Commons^™

The China Currency Issue: Why The World Trade Organization Would Fail To Provide The United States With An Effective Remedy, Marcus Sohlberg

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

A critical issue in the global trading system that came to the forefront in 2010 concerns exchange rates. Having suffered to various degrees through the worst economic and financial downturn since the Great Depression, many large trading nations have sought to achieve economic recovery through export-led growth. In order to boost international competitiveness, many have engaged in competitive devaluations, i.e. interventions in currency markets to devalue domestic currency. According to Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega this situation has escalated into a “global currency war”.

This paper focuses on China’s practice of maintaining an artificially undervalued currency, and addresses the question …

Russia & Legal Harmonization: An Historical Inquiry Into Ip Reform As Global Convergence And Resistance, Boris N. Mamlyuk

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article examines several waves of intellectual property (IP) regulation reform in Russia, starting with an examination into early Soviet attempts to regulate intellectual property. Historical analysis is useful to illustrate areas of theoretical convergence, divergence, and tension between state ideology, positive law, and "law in action." The relevance of these tensions for post-Soviet legal reform may appear tenuous. However, insofar as IP enforcement has emerged as one of the largest hurdles for Russia's prolonged accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), these historical precedents may help explain Russia's apparent theoretical and political disconnect from the WTO. If Russian policymakers …

In The Name Of Sovereignty? The Battle Over In Dubio Mitius Inside And Outside The Courts, Christophe J. Larouer

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

Contrary to some prominent legal scholars’ predictions, the principle of in dubio mitius, that is, the principle of restrictive interpretation of treaty obligations in deference to the sovereignty of states, has not disappeared. Worse, the Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has carried it into the 21st Century, reigniting the ideological debate dividing the legal doctrine over the conception of what the relationship between domestic and international law should be. Therefore, after retracing the history of this principle during which key legal figures opposed one another, this article examines the divergent positions defended by the proponents and …

Harmonizing Preferential Rules Of Origin In The Wto System, John J. Barceló Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Preferential arrangements (bilateral and multilateral free trade areas and GSP systems (preferences for developing countries)) are emerging everywhere in the world trading system and are causing concern because they discriminate against non-members and add complexity, distortions and inconsistency to the global system. Rules of origin (ROOs) linked to these arrangements are a significant part of the problem. More and more they have become the source in their own right of distortions in trade patterns, complexity, non-transparency and inconsistency. This essay argues that WTO members should authorize negotiations seeking to harmonize preferential ROOs (rules of origin linked to preferential arrangements) around …

The Status Of Wto Rules In U.S. Law, John J. Barceló Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Under U.S. implementing legislation and recent court decisions the WTO agreements and rulings have neither direct nor even indirect effect within the U.S. legal system. Political-economic theory can explain this result and the paradox of Congressional support (even mandate) for the more legally binding WTO dispute settlement regime that emerged from the Uruguay Round appearing side-by-side with Congressional insistence on a firewall of separation between WTO law and the U.S. legal system. It can also explain the few exceptional cases - for example, the TRIPS and Government Procurement Agreements - in which the parties adopted a form of quasi-direct effect. …

The Paradox Of Excluding Wto Direct And Indirect Effect In U.S. Law, John J. Barceló Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Developing Countries And The Wto, John J. Barceló Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

When the World Trade Organization (WTO) was founded ten years ago on January 1, 1995, commentators hailed it as a major transformation of the world trading system. The new, more juristic and permanent World Trade Organization replaced the previous, more pragmatic and ad hoc General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The industrial countries, led by the United States, the EU, and Japan, brought about this change to consolidate and deepen their own and the world’s commitment to an open trading system. Their support for the change was crucial because they dominated the GATT, and they continue to dominate the …

Private Parties And Wto Dispute Settlement System , Alberto Alemanno

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

This paper examines the (non) role that private business operators play in the implementation of WTO Dispute Settlement Reports. More precisely, by analysing the legal status of these decisions in national and regional law, it looks at what individuals are entitled to obtain when a WTO Member ignores the results of a Dispute Settlement Body’s proceedings. As private business operators bear most of the economic costs of non-compliance, there is an increasing pressure for a more direct involvement of these parties in the Dispute Settlement System mechanims. The challenge is therefore to find a way to accommodate their interests within …

Should The World Trade Organization Incorporate Labor And Environmental Standards?, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The "Race To The Bottom" Returns: China's Challenge To The International Labor Movement, Stephen F. Diamond

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Poverty Reduction, Trade, And Rights, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Transfer Of Technology In The Contemporary International Order, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.