Law Commons^™

Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes: The Kimberly Process And The Morality Exception To Wto Restrictions, Karen E. Woody

Karen Woody

This Article analyzes the events predicating the Kimberley Process and examines the validity of the Kimberley Process in relation to international trade obligations. Part I describes the background of conflict diamonds and their role in African wars. The section outlines the need for regulation in the diamond industry and examines how other attempted measures at curbing the illicit diamond trade have fallen short. Part II details the Kimberley Process and its guidelines. This section analyzes the relevant U.S. legislation passed in 2003, the Clean Diamond Trade Act. Part II also suggests that because the Kimberley Process ("KP") is predicated upon …

Developing An International Carbon Tax Regime, Steven Specht

Steven Specht

As atmospheric CO2 remains in the range of 400 ppm, it is necessary to find new international coordination to deal with climate change. The best way forward is an international regime of harmonized domestic carbon taxes. By agreeing to a minimum amount of taxation on domestic, point-source producers, money can be set aside for adaptation costs and alternative means of energy production. Finally, such a plan will overcome the problem of non-participation of countries in agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. As this is a treaty dealing with economics and trade, countries can place taxes on imports of non-participatory countries under …

Developing Countries And Multilateral Trade Agreements: Law And The Promise Of Development, Chantal Thomas

Chantal Thomas

No abstract provided.

Disciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, And The Case Of Narcotics, Chantal Thomas

Chantal Thomas

No abstract provided.

The Club Approach To Multilateral Trade Lawmaking, Nicolas Lamp

Nicolas Lamp

The World Trade Organization (WTO) stands at the center of an emerging world of global economic governance. Its rules affect important aspects of all our lives – how much we pay for the products that we purchase, what types of employment are open to us, and which medicines we can access. And yet, while the WTO was conceived as a “negotiating machine” that would develop rules in sync with an increasingly dynamic global economy, negotiations on a new set of global trade rules have now been deadlocked for over a decade. This impasse is all the more surprising in light …

Subsidies And Countervailing Duties In The Gatt, John W. Evans

John Evans

No abstract provided.

“Gatting” The New Climate Treaty Right: Leveraging Energy Subsidies To Promote Multilateralism, Deepa Badrinarayana

Deepa Badrinarayana

The Interaction Of Tax And Non-Tax Treaties, Robert A. Green

Robert A. Green

This background note consists of two parts. Part one provides an overview of the extent to which tax matters are currently covered in non-tax treaties. This discussion focuses on the general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement and the North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) (which cover direct tax measures only to a limited extent) and the European Community (EC) treaty (which covers direct tax measures more broadly). Part two outlines the issues raised when tax matters are covered in non-tax treaties.

Antilegalistic Approaches To Resolving Disputes Between Governments: A Comparison Of The International Tax And Trade Regimes, Robert A. Green

Robert A. Green

No abstract provided.

A History Of Gatt Unfair Trade Remedy Law--Confusion Of Purposes, John J. Barceló Iii

John J. Barceló III

This paper presents an analytical history of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy law in GATT and its member countries. In recent years this body of ‘unfair trade remedy’ law has flourished in the western trading system. Important trading countries have adopted new or expanded anti-dumping and anti-subsidy laws and imposed trade-blocking remedies under them more frequently than ever before. I try to explain in this essay how and why these laws--which I view as protectionist--have prospered and become so rooted in GATT and its member countries.

Subsidies, Countervailing Duties And Antidumping After The Tokyo Round, John J. Barceló Iii

John J. Barceló III

No abstract provided.

Canada And The United States: A Changing Relationship In A Changing World, Panel Discussion And Prognostications, John J. Barceló Iii

John J. Barceló III

No abstract provided.

Subsidies And Countervailing Duties--Analysis And A Proposal, John J. Barceló Iii

John J. Barceló III

The author recommends a new scheme for regulating the use of government subsidies and countervailing duties in international trade, an area presently regulated by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. He contends that these rules should be based to a large extent on principles of free trade and economic efficiency. In addition to setting out proposed regulations, the author analyzes the strength and weaknesses of free trade theory and of the present GATT rules regarding subsidies and countervailing duties.

Antidumping Laws As Barriers To Trade--The United States And The International Antidumping Code, John Barceló Iii

John J. Barceló III

No abstract provided.

Product Standards To Protect The Local Environment--The Gatt And The Uruguay Round Sanitary And Phytosanitary Agreement, John J. Barceló Iii

John J. Barceló III

No abstract provided.

Global Laws, Local Lives: Impact Of The New Regionalism On Human Rights Compliance, Stephen J. Powell, Patricia Camino Pérez

Stephen Joseph Powell

Continuation of the brisk pace of international economic growth with its necessarily increased use of natural resources—often at unsustainable levels—and its higher levels of pollution—often at the cost of citizen health—combine with the rules of the global trading system to threaten human rights to health, to freedom from forced or child labor, to non-discrimination, to a fair wage, to a healthy environment, even to democratic governance and participation in the political process. As a result, in recent years a growing number of economists begrudgingly acknowledge the incontrovertible—although presently dysfunctional—linkage between trade and human rights and the need to integrate these …

Is The Wto Quietly Fading Away?: The New Regionalism And Global Trade Rules, Stephen J. Powell, Trisha Low

Stephen Joseph Powell

While scholars and governments alike view the liberalization of international trade as a positive development, they disagree on the medium that will accomplish this objective with the highest economic returns. Some experts believe that multilateralism through the 150+ member World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only way to achieve truly open and efficient trade. Others view multilateralism as but an aspiration and find that regionalism offers the only viable prospect for the meaningful further opening of markets. In light of what we label the "new regionalism," our paper explores in detail the positive and negative effects of regional trade arrangements …

The Cotton And Sugar Subsidies Decisions: Wto's Dispute Settlement System Rebalances The Agreement On Agriculture, Stephen J. Powell, Andrew Schmitz

Stephen Joseph Powell

As far back as David Ricardo's shattering insight as to comparative advantage in 1817, agriculture has enjoyed special favor in trade. The unique place of farming was so well established by the time the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") was negotiated that GATT's tight disciplines on government interference with free trade not only exempted government protections to growers, but in fact were drafted to be fully consistent with the agricultural policies of the major signatories. While it would be an exaggeration to argue that GATT' s first half century was without impact on agricultural benefits, the sector …

Sex And Globalization, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

For some time now, I have focused on a mission to bring together the separate discourses of the human rights and trade fields -- certainly not to blend them, but to raise awareness of their myriad interconnections. Indeed, human rights and trade are interlocking pieces of the puzzle we call international law and cannot possibly remain sequestered in the "splendid isolation" in which they have existed since their inception as disciplines. In any study of globalization, especially if one endeavors to pursue its benefits for all persons, not just the elite around the world, one must be aware of and …

Public Policy In International Investment And Trade Law: Community Expectations And Functional Decision-Making, Diane A. Desierto

Diane A Desierto

This article uses a contextual policy-oriented approach to assess how the standing debate on a State's regulatory freedom has been treated within international investment law (e.g. case-by-case interpretation of variant treaty design in each case), in contrast with how the issue of domestic regulatory autonomy in international trade law has evolved towards coordination (e.g. attempted harmonization of the same set of instruments). The article submits a different view from many primarily trade law/investment law scholars (and other systemic integrationists who idealize a seamless shift from trade law to investment law), who have postulated that this fundamental issue of State regulatory …

A Twentieth Amendment Parable, John C. Nagle

John Copeland Nagle

The twentieth amendment receives virtually no attention in modern American constitutional law. Adopted in 1933, the primary purpose of the amendment was to eliminate lame-duck Congresses. The proponents of the amendment argued that lame-ducks were subject to nefarious influences and that allowing lame-duck legislation contradicted the voice of the people in the most recent election. But the text of the twentieth amendment simply moved the date on which the newly elected President and Congress took office from March to January, and does not expressly prohibit lame-duck legislation. The framers of the amendment could not conceive of Congress meeting during the …

International Trade And Economic Relations In A Nutshell, 5th Edition, Ralph Folsom, Michael Gordon, John Spanogle, Michael Van Alstine

Michael P. Van Alstine

This guide on international trade and investment examines the legal rules governing international trade. Initial chapters deal with the legal and practical environment for multinational enterprises (MNEs) engaged in international trade and investment. The work then analyzes the principal international institutions involved in international trade: the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF); the essential rules governing the regulation of international trade, including in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); the system for dispute resolution within the WTO under its Dispute Settlement Body (DSB); restrictions on, and other regulation of, imports, including tariff rates, customs classification …

Re-Tuning Tuna? Appellate Body Report In Us – Tuna Ii, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

Under the TBT Agreement, a labelling requirement can be qualified as a technical regulation, and not as a standard, even if it does not constitute a precondition for placing a product for sale on the relevant market. Examination of “no less favourable treatment” under Article 2.1 requires determining whether a measure modifies the conditions of competition in the relevant market to the detriment of imported like products, and whether such detrimental impact stems exclusively from a legitimate regulatory distinction rather than reflecting discrimination against the group of imported like products. The evaluation of whether a measure is more trade-restrictive than …

The Conventional Morality Of Trade, Chin Leng Lim

Chin Leng Lim

This chapter is concerned with the kinds of moral and political arguments that developing countries have made in the name of global justice. Claims for the direct global redistribution of resources have not loomed large in international trade law and regulation. To be sure, they were raised during the failed negotiations for an International Trade Organization (ITO), but the principal tension that has come to the fore in trade law and policy debate is that between the formal rules of nondiscrimination under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the developing countries’ calls for exceptions to those rules. …

Legal Nature Of The Traded Units Under The Emissions Trading Systems And Its Implication To The Relationship Between Emissions Trading And The Wto, Wen-Chen Shih Dr

Wen-chen Shih Dr

With regard to the relationship between emissions trading and the WTO, most existing literature focuses on the emissions trading system under the Kyoto Protocol without analysing existing or forthcoming domestic or regional emissions trading systems. Furthermore, these analyses also did not differentiate between different types of emissions trading systems, in particular the possible different legal nature of various types of the ‘units’ that are being traded under different types of emissions trading system. Is this an over-simplified approach in terms of analysing the relationship between emissions trading and the WTO? This is the main research question of this article. By …

Challenging Chinese Currency Manipulation As A Subsidy Under The Wto Subsidies And Countervailing Measures Agreement, Elizabeth L. Pettis

Elizabeth L Pettis

This paper examines the US option of challenging China’s currency manipulation under the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement (SCM Agreement). It will assess the relative strengths and weakness of this option and will conclude by recommending a course of action that may not quickly resolve the problem but will clarify the law on this issue or will clearly identify the form of currency manipulation utilize by China as an issue that must be resolved by agreement among the G-20 and/or the member states of the WTO.

United States - Certain Measures Affecting Imports Of Poultry From China. Just Another Sps Case?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) may apply to budgetary measures if they are motivated by SPS concerns. Equivalence-based measures are subject to the regular disciplines of the SPS Agreement, including but not limited to Article 4 SPS. This means that WTO Members, when engaging in the recognition process, need to observe other SPS provisions such as the requirement of a scientific risk assessment (Articles 5.1-5.3) or the quasi-consistency obligation of Article 5.5. A measure which has been found inconsistent with certain provisions of the SPS Agreement (e.g. Articles 2 and 5) cannot be …

Trade And Sustainable Development, Padideh Ala'i

Padideh Ala'i

Rules Of Origin As International Trade Hindrances, Hatem Mohamed Mabrouk

Hatem Mohamed Mabrouk

This paper talks about the usage of Rules of Origin (RoO) as protectionist apparatuses in different regional trade areas, as the North American Free Trade Area, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the South African Development Community, and the usage of RoO as trade-diverting tools. In addition, the paper talks about the spaghetti-bowl phenomenon, with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation region, and clarifies how to achieve a proper harmonization of both non-preferential and preferential RoO as a solution to overcome the previously mentioned odds facing international trade. Moreover, the paper suggests the adoption of more solutions as …

Is China A ‘Currency Manipulator’?: The Legitimacy Of China’S Exchange Regime Under The Current International Legal Framework, Bryan Mercurio, Celine Sze Ning Leung

Bryan Mercurio

While most economists are in agreement that China’s currency is undervalued, economists are less certain as to the effect of the undervaluation. Despite the equivocal data, critics of China’s regime claim that the undervaluation leads to cheaper, and therefore increased exported goods, while at the same time raising the price of imported goods. For this reason, U.S. lawmakers perpetually raise the issue and periodically initiate legislation, which would deem China a “currency manipulator” and thus trigger retaliatory measures. Lawyers are less certain whether there can be a multilateral solution to the perceived problem.

With the existing legal literature consisting mostly …