International Trade Law Commons^™

Patriot Games: India And China: Brinkmanship In The Realm Of Apps, Neeraj Rajan Sabitha, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

India recently decided to ban a slew of applications (“apps”), mostly Chinese, accessed on mobile phones and other internet-based devices citing privacy and security concerns arising from the surreptitious mining and profiling of user data that is collected by these apps. It found these activities to be prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state and public order. China responded that it suspected India’s decision to ban these apps to have violated the obligations that India had committed to under the framework of he World Trade Organization (WTO). Through this paper, we explore …

Suggested Improvements To Mandatory Mediation Scheduling During International Trade Commission (Itc) Section 337 Investigations, Jeff Nall

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Forcing Creativity: An Analysis Of Chinese Ip Subsidies And How They Should Be Assessed Under Existing International Trade Agreements, Taylor Stemler

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Learning From Experience: Comparing Legal Approaches To Foreign Bribery And Modern Slavery, Hannah Harris, Justine Nolan

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The article examines two distinct regulatory frameworks addressing global corruption and human rights issues: the criminal law approach to foreign bribery and the disclosure-based approach to modern slavery in supply chains. It argues that while the foreign bribery framework, exemplified by laws like the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act, relies on strict criminal liability, the modern slavery framework, as seen in laws like the Australian and UK Modern Slavery Acts, focuses on disclosure with limited enforcement mechanisms. The article proposes integrating elements of experimental governance, such as penalty defaults and stakeholder collaboration, to enhance the effectiveness of both frameworks …

Hong Kong And China: Building Bridges Between Two Systems In One Country, Harold Kang

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

In 1984, Britain and China negotiated an agreement that resulted in Hong Kong's reunification with China over one hundred years after it was surrendered to Britain following the Opium War. The Sino-British Joint Declaration stipulated that although China would exercise territorial sovereignty over Hong Kong, Hong Kong would still maintain a high degree of autonomy until the year 2047. This meant that Hong Kong would have independent executive, legislative, and judicial powers while maintaining its capitalist system and way of life. However, these promisesdespite codification in the Basic Law, which is a quasi-Constitution-do not escape the inherent contradiction in "one …

How To Treat The Wto's Problem With Precedent, Timothy Meyer

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article argues that the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body (AB), or a successor body, must become more transparent in justifying its decision to rely (or not) on prior decisions. The AB's practice of precedent-which the United States cited as a cause of its decision to paralyze the AB by blocking new appointments-is similar to how it has approached "likeness" in nondiscrimination cases. It placed a lot of weight on whether two cases (or products) are sufficiently similar to be compared, and it spent relatively less time substantively justifying its treatment of prior cases. Because the WTO does not have …

Leveling The Playing Field: Industrial Policy And Export-Contingent Subsidies In India-Export Related Measures, Timothy Meyer, Swati Dhingra

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In India–Export Related Measures, the United States challenged a range of Indian measures as prohibited export-contingent subsidies, and a WTO panel largely agreed. This article examines the factors at play in the United States’ decision to bring the challenge. At the level of policy, the United States case reflects India’s graduation from the protections afforded developing nations’ export-contingent subsidies under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. A closer examination, however, shows that India ramped up its export-contingent subsidies just as the SCM Agreement required it to wind those subsidies down. Moreover, the expanded Indian subsidies led to increased import …

Informing Wto Reform: Dispute Settlement Performance, 1995-2020, Bernard M. Hoekman, Petros C. Mavroidis, Maarja Saluste

Faculty Scholarship

This article presents salient facts on the performance of WTO dispute settlement, using an updated dataset on cases adjudicated between 1992 and mid 2020. The dataset provides a comprehensive compilation of information on WTO disputes, including complainants, respondents and third parties; the substantive matters tabled; the WTO provisions invoked; the claims that are accepted or rejected by adjudicating bodies; the time involved to complete the consultation, panel and appeal (Appellate Body) stages; and the identity of panelists and how they were appointed. We highlight elements of the operation of the system that are salient to WTO reform discussions, while drawing …

Interpretive Entrepreneurs, Melissa J. Durkee

Scholarly Works

Private actors interpret legal norms, a phenomenon I call "interpretive entrepreneurship." The phenomenon is particularly significant in the international context, where many disputes are not subject to judicial resolution and there is no official system of precedent. Interpretation can affect the meaning of laws over time. For this reason, it can be a form of "post hoc" international lawmaking, worth studying alongside other forms of international lobbying and norm entrepreneurship by private actors. The Article identifies and describes the phenomenon through a series of case studies that show how, why, and by whom it unfolds. The examples focus on entrepreneurial …

The Disparate Treatment Of Rights In Trade, Desiree Leclercq

Scholarly Works

Rights advocates are increasingly urging U.S. trade negotiators to include new binding and sanctionable provisions that would protect human rights, women’s rights, and gender equality. Their efforts are understandable. Trade agreements have significant advantages as a process for advancing global rights. Even though Congress and the Executive incorporate global environmental standards and labor rights in U.S. trade agreements, they have refused to incorporate gender rights and broader human rights. The rationale behind the United States’ disparate treatment of rights in trade has received almost no scholarly attention. That is a mistake.

Using labor rights as a case study, this Article …

Mining In Guatemala: Human Rights And Investment Treaty Arbitration, Valentina Capotosto

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Forget Bit: The Impact Of Rta On Fdi And Economic Growth – A Comparison Of Brazil And Mexico, Rosa Meguerian-Faria

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article explores the relationship between international trade law, foreign direct investment (FDI), and economic growth of developing countries. Here, I argue that a developing state needs to capture the right combination of the different types of FDI to promote domestic growth. I apply principles of law, economics, and finance to my analysis of the importance of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), compared to Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) to FDI inflow, and how it can impact economic growth in developing countries. I show that the RTAs give a signal that the country is open to foreign investment, and therefore it promotes …

The Efficient Breach Theory In International Investment Law, Sangwani Patrick Ng’Ambi

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

When a State unilaterally abrogates its contractual obligations, it is under a duty to compensate the investor. The aim of the compensation regime under International Investment Law is to restore the investor to a position he or she would have been in had the breach not taken place. Thus, the award of compensation should not only include sunk costs (damnum emergens) but also lost future profits (lucrum cessans).

In this article it is argued that the rules relating to compensation promote efficiency, as per the ‘efficient breach theory’ because they dissuade governments from unilaterally abrogating concession agreements, unless they can …

Trade Integration In Turbulent Times, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

The WTO has been going through an existential crisis, from which it is like that it will not exit unscathed. If it is to remain an organization of universal membership, it will have to content itself to shallow integration. Its continuing policy relevance, will largely depend on the choices it will make about the nature of its own integration process. The good news is that no one can simply walk away from globalization. The downside (for the WTO) is that globalization is being increasingly administered through bilateral contracts.

Harry Potter And The Gluttonous Machine, Jason A. Beckett

Faculty Journal Articles

In this paper, I outline the colonial structure of international law, and examine the short decline or suppression of its coloniality in the so-called ‘era of decolonisation’, then illustrate its resurgence in the modern neo-colonial order. PIL has split into two separate systems. One includes, and is justified by, the heroic tales of human rights and ‘Humanity’s Law’. The other is the actualised system of International Economic Law (IEL), an order driven by the need of the over-developed states to plunder the under-developed states’ resources and labour, to subsidise the luxury to which we have grown accustomed. One purports to …

Tales Of Economic Warfare: The Plunder Of Venezuela, Dr. Mohsen Al Attar, Alexander Reay

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

In most treatises, International Economic Law (IEL) is presented as a neutral set of doctrines, principles, and rules. Actors may compete against one another and vie for economic success, but the rules are indifferent towards the outcome. It is this notion of an apolitical IEL that we challenge throughout this article. Using a case study of Venezuela, we illustrate how the rules of the international economic order are leveraged by the UK, the EU, and the United States to engineer preferred political outcomes. We examine three interconnected assaults perpetrated against Venezuela by the English Courts, the United States, and

the …

Enforcement And Direct Effect Of Wto Law Under European And South African Law, Oliver C Ruppel, Yannick Hoppe

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

This article deals with the consistent enforcement of WTO law outside the infrastructure of the WTO, which is known as the matter of ‘direct effect’ of public international law. It is generally accepted that private parties cannot resolve trade conflicts on the platform of the WTO even if they are affected by trade restrictions. However, there are strong supporters who argue in favor of private parties to bring WTO claims before national courts. Thus, it is assessed by the author’s whether WTO law is directly effective in the legal systems of the European Union and South Africa. Since the matter …

Law, Institution And State Industrial Promotion, Yong Shik Lee

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

This article examines state industrial promotion from legal and institutional perspectives. Economists have argued since the 18th century on the economic efficiency of government involvement in the economy. While state-led development policies in some of the most successful development cases, such as South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and more recently, China, have been effective, many have doubted the wisdom of government involvement in the economy. Where the availability of information is limited and the financial market is imperfect (which are the inherent conditions of less-developed countries), the government can provide beneficial initiatives in productive industrial pursuits, as demonstrated by …

Global Trade-Enabling Law, Panagiotis Delimatsis

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

Trade regulation may never have been in more flux than it is nowadays. Apart from the emergence of ‘megaregionals’ (more recently, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – RCEP, or the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-pacific Partnership–CPTPP) and the difficulties in pursuing the objectives of the Doha Development Agenda, the increased heterogeneity of interests within the World Trade Organization (WTO) puts into question its ability to achieve its central objective of free(r) trade. While internally rethinking the future of the WTO, it seems opportune to discuss, and factor in the realities of everyday global trade. To this end, this Article argues that …

The Trump Administration's Critique Of The World Trade Organisation And Its Implications For The International Trading System, Dr. Kenneth Holland

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

The crisis in which the World Trade Organization is in could be best understood as the product of the rise of China and the incredible power rivalry that it has sparked with the United States. The WTO was founded in 1995, at a time when the United States was the world’s sole superpower, and expectations were high that democracy was in the ascendancy. By 2013, however, with the ascension of Xi Jinping to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, it was clear that China was growing increasingly authoritarian and illiberal. From Washington’s point of view, the WTO, with its …

Patriot Games: India And China: Brinkmanship In The Realm Of Apps, Neeraj Rajan Sabitha, Petros C. Mavroidis

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

India recently decided to ban a slew of applications (“apps”), mostly Chinese, accessed on mobile phones and other internet-based devices citing privacy and security concerns arising from the surreptitious mining and profiling of user data that is collected by these apps. It found these activities to be prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state and public order. China responded that it suspected India’s decision to ban these apps to have violated the obligations that India had committed to under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Through this paper, we explore …

Interpreting The 'National Treatment' Obligation Under Gats, Anushree Malaviya

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

The General Agreement on Trade and Services 1994 (GATS) strikes a balance between liberalizing the trade in services among the Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), while granting a considerable margin of discretion to the Members in the manner in which they choose to discharge their obligations. One of the most crucial obligations contained therein is that of National Treatment – which prohibits discrimination between foreign and domestic services. The bare text of the provision has however created more confusion rather than given clarity – particularly in light of the advent of new technology not envisaged at the time …

Interpretive Entrepreneurs, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

Private actors interpret legal norms, a phenomenon I call “interpretive entrepreneurship.” The phenomenon is particularly significant in the international context, where many disputes are not subject to judicial resolution and there is no official system of precedent. Interpretation can affect the meaning of laws over time. For this reason, it can be a form of “post hoc” international lawmaking, worth studying alongside other forms of international lobbying and norm entrepreneurship by private actors. The Article identifies and describes the phenomenon through a series of case studies that show how, why, and by whom it unfolds. The examples focus on entrepreneurial …

Credit Supports For Italian Specialty Products: The Case Of Prosciutto And Long-Aged Cheese, Jorge L. Esquirol

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulating Antitrust Through Trade Agreements, Anu Bradford, Adam S. Chilton

Faculty Scholarship

Antitrust law is one of the most commonly deployed instruments of economic regulation around the world. To date, over 130 countries have adopted a domestic antitrust law. These countries comprise developed and developing nations alike, and combined produce over 95 percent of the world’s GDP. Most of the countries that have adopted an antitrust law have done so since 1990. This period of significant proliferation of antitrust laws also coincides with a notable expansion of international trade agreements, including the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 and the negotiation of numerous bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. These …

Trading Pharma Goods The Wto Legal Framework, Neeraj Rajan Sabitha, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

Trading of pharma goods has attracted widespread global attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Agreement on Trade in Pharmaceutical Products (“Pharma Agreement”) – a sectoral agreement between a handful of WTO members – was concluded in 1994 and aimed to eliminate duties on various pharmaceutical products. Nevertheless, this is all that the Pharma Agreement does: it eliminates duties and does not touch upon the regulatory aspects relating to marketing of pharmaceutical goods. WTO members remain sovereign to decide on this score, but must observe the WTO Licensing Agreement as well as nondiscrimination. Thus, while the intensity of …

How To Treat The Wto's Problem With Precedent, Timothy Meyer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article argues that the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body (AB), or a successor body, must become more transparent in justifying its decision to rely (or not) on prior decisions. The AB’s practice of precedent—which the United States cited as a cause of its decision to paralyze the AB by blocking new appointments-—is similar to how it has approached “likeness” in nondiscrimination cases. It placed a lot of weight on whether two cases (or products) are sufficiently similar to be compared, and it spent relatively less time substantively justifying its treatment of prior cases. Because the WTO does not have …

Mandatory Investor-State Conciliation Before Arbitration In Asia-Pacific Treaties: New Developments And Implications For India And Australia, James Claxton, Luke Nottage, Ana Ubilava

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

India’s 2016 Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) was partly prompted by the 2010 investor-state arbitration award for White Industries against India under the latter’s BIT with Australia, terminated by India in 2017 along with many other older BITs. India’s Model BIT is decidedly more pro-host-state in substantive commitments towards foreign investors, although still retains circumscribed investor-state arbitration provisions, and it may be complicating India’s negotiations for new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Australia is also reviewing its own older BITs, although its recent FTA investment chapters mostly retain a more conventional format. However, Australia’s FTA with Indonesia signed in 2019 includes …

Rethinking China Trade Policy: Lessons Learned And Options Ahead, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Looking back at the China trade policy of the Trump administration, the biggest lesson is that unilateralism simply doesn’t work, at least not against a major power like China. Despite the tumultuous two-and-half-year trade war and the Phase 1 deal hailed as an “unprecedented” deal promising “a more balanced trade relationship and a more level playing field for American workers and companies,” there has been little progress on the issues U.S. businesses and the Trump administration objected to in China’s trade and economic policies. It is not only the U.S. government that needs a more viable approach. Many companies would …

Facilitating Investment Through Iias: The Case Of The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Stefanie Schacherer

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

As many recently concluded IIAs, the RCEP agreement includes provisions on investment facilitation. Following ASEAN’s “built-in work program” approach, the agreement provides flexibility for RCEP parties to further implement investment facilitation measures. Such flexibility can arguably be an opportunity to set a collaborative framework for investment facilitation in the region.