International Trade Law Commons^™

An Assessment Of The Chafta And Its Implications: A Work-In-Progress Type Fta With Selective Innovations, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approach of the ChAFTA? What are the challenges to the ChAFTA? It argues first that the ChAFTA adopts a problem-solving approach to harvest “low-hanging fruit” (e.g. tariff cuts). Containing WTO-based and WTO-friendly rules, it focuses on trade and investment facilitation through market liberalization and carefully written good governance norms. In spite of its short form investment chapter, the agreement is not as shallow as one may first think. It stimulates development concerning, among other things, regulatory issues (e.g. regulatory transparency and cooperation in financial services, regulatory …

Dissenting Opinions In The Wto Appellate Body: Drivers Of Their Issuance & Implications For The Institutional Jurisprudence, Petros C. Mavroidis, Evan Y. Kim

Faculty Scholarship

The Appellate Body (AB) of the WTO has issued over 140 reports but only eight separate opinions, four of which are genuinely dissenting. Such paucity, in fact, is the WTO’s implicit tradition inherited from GATT of prioritizing unanimous decisions, hoping they solidify the institution’s legitimacy and countries’ confidence in the system. But at the more individual level, an AB member’s decision to dissent is driven by multiple factors that have implications for the institution’s jurisprudence. First, the factors explain how the symbiotic relationship between an AB member and his or her nominating country – whose interests turn out to be …

A Destination-Based Cash Flow Tax Can Be Structured To Comply With World Trade Organization Rules, Itai Grinberg

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper briefly outlines alternative approaches to enacting a destination-based cash flow tax that are more clearly compatible with the World Trade Organization rules than the approach that has previously been described in the literature. The first structural alternative involves expanding the universe of businesses subject to the tax by clearly defining both the base of the new U.S. business tax and its tax nexus requirement as domestic consumption, and thereafter treating foreign importers and other sellers equivalently, rather than imposing a deduction disallowance or an import tax. The second alternative involves adopting a business activities tax, and then enacting …

Regional Disputes: It Is Not Just Ground Beef, Nicholas W. Laneville

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Never For-Gatt: What Recent Tbt Decisions Reveal About The Appellate Body’S Analysis Of Environmental Regulation Under The Wto Agreements, Ravi Soopramanien

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Few environmentalists have positive things to say on the impact of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the environment. WTO legal obligations are frequently cited as the most significant impediment to a range of environmental initiatives, including notably meaningful international coordination to combat climate change, particularly through carbon tax initiatives, and imposition of electronic waste disposal export bans. In this vein, adverse findings of WTO dispute panels on environmental conservation measures tend to attract the ire of international civil society. The tensions between liberal trade and environmental protection can be traced back to the days of the General Agreement on …

Communitizing Transnational Regulatory Concerns, Sungjoon Cho, Cecilia Suh, Jacob Radecki

All Faculty Scholarship

The conventional, rationalist view explains that a state will only assent to international regulation if such regulation directly serves the state’s interest. In contrast, nascent transnational regulatory intermediaries, such as the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee, seek to ameliorate such parochial state interests through a broader interstate dialogue. This Article addresses the challenging question of whether these intermediaries have any meaningful effect on the resolution of interstate trade disputes. To examine this question, this Article utilizes data from over 400 examples of “specific trade concerns” (STCs) raised by WTO members in the TBT Committee. Our …

Strength In Intellectual Property Protection And Foreign Direct Investment Flows In Least Developed Countries, James Thuo Gathii

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Wto Agreements And The Regulation Of Energy Markets: Is There A Good Fit?, Ravi Soopramanien

Pace Environmental Law Review

This paper focuses on this second wave of WTO RE disputes. It will assess whether or to what extent policy instruments requiring increased use of RE in national electricity grids, notably FiT, RPS and EA regulations, are consistent with WTO legal obligations. Part II of this paper will discuss energy markets, and the issues that are presented through incorporation of RE into national grids. Part III will shift focus to the WTO. It will introduce the WTO and relevant WTO law, with a particular emphasis on the Appellate Body’s conclusion in its Canada – RE/FiT report. Part IV will assess …

Obligations Versus Rights: Substantive Difference Between Wto And International Investment Law, Chios Carmody

Law Publications

WTO law remains relatively uncontentious whereas international investment law elicits much more debate. This article posits that the differences in reception are attributable to deeper substantive differences about what is protected under each regime. In WTO law what is protected is the sum total of all commitments and concessions under the WTO Agreement, something that can be thought of as a “public” good. When a country injures that good, the remedy is for the country to cease the injury, a requirement that naturally places emphasis on obligation. In international investment law, by contrast, what is protected is individualized to a …

Exploring Cuba's New Role In The World Economy: Paths And Perils, Wentong Zheng

UF Law Faculty Publications

With the normalization of relations with the United States and other countries, Cuba is ushering in a new era with unprecedented opportunities in a globalized world. Participating in the world economy, however, is a risky proposition. It requires policymakers to carefully weigh the pros and cons of each development path and choose the one that best suits Cuba. It also requires policymakers to be prepared for the perils, both economic and legal, that may arise from Cuba's participation in the world economy. This Article explores Cuba's new role in the world economy and the perils that accompany this new role. …

Free Markets, State Involvement, And The Wto: Chinese State Owned Enterprises (Soes) In The Ring, Petros C. Mavroidis, Merit E. Jano

Faculty Scholarship

The WTO has struggled with the treatment of nonmarket economies (NMEs). What was a nonissue in the original GATT (because of the homogeneity of participants) became quite an issue with the accession of formally centrally planned economies, which were not transformed to market economies, at least not in the eyes of the incumbents. Contracting this issue has proved to be so far always wanting, and leaving it to adjudicators has not produced good results either. With respect to Chinese SOEs this risks continuing to be an issue, since the contractually agreed deadline (2016) after which China should not be treated …

The Intellectual Property Hostage In Trade Retaliation, Sarah R. Wasserman Rajec

Maryland Law Review

Intellectual property law has become bound up in a debate about appropriate remedies for violations of the World Trade Organization Agreement. As an alternative to traditional countermeasures that consist of retaliation under the violated agreement, the World Trade Organization “(WTO”) contemplates that violations of one of its covered agreements may be remedied through “cross-retaliation,” or retaliation under another agreement. One form of cross-retaliation has garnered interest in recent years: the threat to suspend intellectual property rights in response to unrelated trade violations.

Cross-retaliation through intellectual property rights suspension is theoretically appealing for its potential to avoid problems inherent in traditional …

International Investment Agreements: Impacts On Climate Change Policies In India, China And Beyond, Lise Johnson, Brooke Güven

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Mitigating and adapting to climate change will require a fundamental reorientation of our global economy as we move away from fossil fuels and transition to a low carbon and climate-resilient world. This reorientation depends on government actions to help catalyze and channel financial flows in new directions and away from business-as-usual practices.

International investment agreements (IIAs) – treaties that now number over 3,000 and have the objective of promoting and protecting cross-border investment flows_could potentially play a key role in these efforts to scale up and (re)direct investments to meet climate change mitigation and adaptation needs. As presently drafted and …

The Tpp: Threat Or Treat To China, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The conclusion of the TPP has raised many challenges for China, especially on rules issues. This article discusses the possible responses by China, as well as how this may lead to a window of opportunity for mutual cooperation between the US and China.

The Tpp: Threat Or Treat To China, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The conclusion of the TPP has raised many challenges for China, especially on rules issues. This article discusses the possible responses by China, as well as how this may lead to a window of opportunity for mutual cooperation between the US and China.

Subsidies Issues In Renewable Energy Trade, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The chapter analyzes several issues regarding the renewable energy subsidies in trade law. There are uncertainties regarding the WTO-consistence of renewable energy subsidies for goods. It is partially due to the vagueness of WTO rules and insufficient jurisprudence. Among them, issues such as the specificity of subsidies turn to be quite controversial. Given the unclear WTO disciplines on the susidies for goods, renewable energy subsidies for services could be more popular. The “collaboration” between the WTO law and FTAs is desirable to reform the WTO rules on trade remedies and to strike a balance between trade disciplines and environment protection.

The Tbt Agreement’S Failure To Solve U.S. - Cool, Elinore R. Carroll

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Refining Statutory Interpretation: How Natural Gas Export Regulations Violate U.S. International Trade Obligations, Amanda L. Tharpe

Catholic University Law Review

As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States is required to abide by nondiscriminatory trade policies when exporting products to other WTO members. Current U.S. policy regulating natural gas exports impose burdensome and lengthy licensing procedures on those requesting approval of a permit to export natural gas to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement. A similar commodity, crude oil, is regulated by different regulations that allow for U.S. oil producers to freely export crude oil overseas. This Comment analyzes the differences in federal laws and regulations governing the export of …

Reaching For Environmental And Economic Harmony: Can Ttip Negotiations Bridge The U.S.-Eu Chemical Regulatory Gap?, Ashley Henson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Shochu Conundrum: Economics And Gatt Article Iii, Alex Davis

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper will discuss the National Treatment (NT) obligation contained in Article III of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 as applied in precedential tax discrimination cases. Case law has not taken a firm stance on the economic versus legal interpretation of the likeness/directly competitive or substitutable (DCS) criterion or the principle of “so as to afford protection” (SATAP) captured in Article III.2. After examining the case law on discriminatory taxation, I conclude that the NT obligation in trade agreements is imperfect. Nonetheless, NT is a critical component of these agreements, and the international trade order would …

The International Law Relation Between Trips And Subsequent Trips-Plus Free Trade Agreements: Towards Safeguarding Trips Flexibilities?, Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan

Georgia Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

History, Trips, And Common Sense: Curbing The Counterfeit Drug Market In Sub-Saharan Africa, Hannah Elizabeth Jarrells

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Technical Barriers To Trade Agreement: A Reconciliation Of Divergent Values In The Global Trading System, Samantha Gaul

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In the context of multilateral trading, there is a historical tension between economically oriented, laissez-faire, pro-trade concerns as they are juxtaposed with social, environmental, and health concerns. These conflicting values are inextricable from one another in a world that encourages, and quite frankly mandates, a high level of economic interdependency. But what if institutional actors could reconcile these conflicting values—at least toward the more efficient and practical goals of alleviating (rather than eliminating) the underlying tension? This Note argues that Article 2.2 of the World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement operates to reconcile these fundamental tensions to some …

When Popular Decisions Rest On Shaky Foundations: Systemic Implications Of Selected Wto Appellate Body Trade Remedies Jurisprudence, Meredith Kolsky Lewis

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 9 in International Economic Law and Governance: Essays in Honour of Mitsuo Matsushita, Julien Chaisse & Tsai-yu Lin, eds.

This chapter argues that the WTO Appellate Body has not been consistent in applying Article 31 of the VCLT and considering the context of the relevant treaty text in light of its object and purpose. It has instead either been overly mechanistic in its textual interpretation or has strayed from the text, sometimes with the appearance of preferring an outcome-based result. Part I of the chapter discusses the appropriate role context should play in interpreting the WTO agreements. …

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight: The Not So Magnificent Seven Of The Wto Appellate Body, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

The WTO Appellate Body (AB) has produced a volume-wise important body of case law, which is often difficult to penetrate, never mind classify. Howse (2016) has attempted a very lucid taxonomy of the case law using the standard of review as benchmark for it. His conclusion is that the AB is quite cautious when facing nondiscriminatory measures, especially measures relating to the protection of human life and health, while it has adopted a more intrusive (into national sovereignty) standard when dealing with trade measures (like antidumping), which are by definition discriminatory as they concern imports only. In my response, I …

Private Standards And The Wto: Reclusive No More, Petros C. Mavroidis, Robert Wolfe

Faculty Scholarship

Private standards are increasing in number, and they affect trade, but their status in the WTO remains problematic. Standards-takers are typically countries with little bargaining power, who cannot affect their terms of trade and thus, even if they possess domestic antitrust laws, will find it hard to persuade standard-setters to take account of their interests. Our concern is to bring more of these standards within the normative framework of the trade regime – that is, we worry that these private forms of social order can conflict with the fundamental norms of transparency and non-discrimination. The WTO membership has consumed itself …

Mfn Clubs And Scheduling Additional Commitments In The Gatt: Learning From The Gats, Bernard Hoekman, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

Scheduling additional commitments for policies affecting trade in goods in the GATT has been plagued by two sources of ambiguity: the treatment of changes introduced unilaterally by members subsequent to an initial commitment, and the treatment of new commitments by WTO members pertaining to nontariff policy measures affecting trade in goods. This is not the case for trade in services, as the GATS makes explicit provision for additional commitments to be scheduled. Neither secondary law, in the form of decisions formally adopted by the WTO membership, nor case law has clarified the situation for trade in goods. This matter is …

Dispute Settlement In The Wto: Mind Over Matter, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

The basic point I advocate in this paper is that the WTO Dispute Settlement System aims to curb unilateralism. No sanctions can be imposed, unless if the arbitration process is through, the purpose of which is to ensure that reciprocal commitments entered should not be unilaterally undone through the commission of illegalities. There are good reasons though, to doubt whether practice guarantees full reciprocity. The insistence on calculating remedies prospectively, and not as of the date when an illegality has been committed, and the ensuing losses for everybody that could or could not be symmetric, lend support to the claim …

Pirates Or Privateers: Examining The Risks Of Conflicting International Regimes Through The Lens Of U.S.-Gambling, Eric A. Heath

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Balancing National Public Policy And Free Trade, Diane A. Desierto

Pace International Law Review

In the wake of the impasse between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and India regarding the ratification of the Protocol to the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that concluded during the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia on December of 2013, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo admitted that while the WTO succeeds in resolving trade disputes and monitoring trade practices, it “has failed to deliver new multilateral results since its creation.” This systemic failure in the trade negotiations pillar of the WTO is evident to all of its 160 Members. It is evident from thirteen years of stalled negotiations under the …