International Trade Law Commons^™

A Role For The Wto In International Merger Control, Andre Fiebig

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Although this paper follows on those new proposals, and addresses many of the same problems, the international merger control regime proposed here fundamentally differs in its approach. Although there is certainly a beneficial role for an international institution in merger control, the current proposals are too ambitious. Instead of focussing on the allocation of cross-border transactions, this paper suggests that the focus should be on the cases which present no treat to competition, and yet are scrutinized by several different national competition law regulators. An international institution, probably within the framework of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), should be created …

Cultural Resistance To Global Governance, Joel Richard Paul

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article maps out the terrain in which state actors and legal scholars make claims premised on a cultural exception to justify derogating from international legal norms. The author’s aim is to understand why some of these claimed cultural practices displace international legal norms, while other practices are dismissed as violating international legal norms. Part II will examine this discourse in relation to the rights of women and sexual minorities. This article will show that the international community generally regards gender norms as cultural and the international legal norm of gender equality usually defers to national cultural practices. Part III …

Women's Rights And The Public Morals Exception Of Gatt Article 20, Liane M. Jarvis

Michigan Journal of International Law

The public morals exception in Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) could and should be interpreted in accordance with evolving human rights law on women's rights. This clause provides an exception to the general rule that members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) cannot take measures against other Members that would restrict trade. Under Article XX, WTO members may restrict trade for a variety of social reasons, including protecting the environment, preventing prison labor, and otherwise promoting "public morals.” This Note will argue in particular that a nation should be allowed to invoke the public …

The New Rules On Cross-Border Tender And Exchange Offers, Business Combinations And Rights Offerings: Competition Or Harmonization?, Julian T. Perlmutter

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note introduces the Cross-Border Rules in the context of the rapidly changing securities markets and highly competitive regulatory systems noted above. It addresses the elements and impact of internationalization on cross-border tender offers and the modern U.S. regulatory response. The SEC has avoided any public moves to harmonize the U.S. system with those of other major capital markets and has instead made incremental changes aimed at maintaining the system's perceived strengths. The Cross-Border Rules represent a somewhat ungainly attempt to placate U.S. investors by bending the Williams Act tender offer rules using exemptions for certain transactions.

The Desirability Of Agreeing To Disagree: The Wto, Trips, International Ipr Exhaustion And A Few Other Things, Vincent Chiappetta

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article proposes a procedural and substantive approach specifically designed to achieve this result. Concerning process, interim national and regional decisionmaking and the multilateral debate must expressly broaden and clarify the values and interests at stake. Three basic operational principles advance this objective. First, comparisons based on IPR labels (patent, copyright, and the like) confuse rather than illuminate. Instead, focus must be on the actual underlying policy justifications and objectives. Second, the full range of implicated justifications (economic and otherwise), including those outside the decision-makers' own norms, must be expressly identified and considered. Finally, any position taken or decision reached …

Trade And Inequality: Economic Justice And The Developing World, Frank J. Garcia

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article attempts to lay the foundation for such a framework in the area of international trade law. More specifically, this Article develops the argument that the principle of special and differential treatment, a key element of the developing world's trade agenda, plays a central role in satisfying the moral obligations that wealthier states owe poorer states as a matter of distributive justice. Seen in this light, the principle of special and differential treatment is more than just a political accommodation: it reflects a moral obligation stemming from the economic inequality among states.

Chinese Law, Trade And The New Century, Robert C. Berring

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

China crammed a great deal of political activity into the 20th Century. In the year 1900 the Q'ing Dynasty still ruled the remnants of an ancient empire. The Q'ing conspired with rebels in the Boxer Rebellion in the hopes of expelling all foreigners from Chinese soil and returning to splendid isolation. In the year 2000 China is a superpower balancing communist theory and a capitalist market that is about to join the World Trade Organization. The intervening years saw warlords, democrats, fascists, Marxists and all stripes of communists leading the world's largest nation. As China enters the new millennium of …

A Problem Of Process In Wto Jurisprudence: Identifying Disputed Issues In Panels And Consultations, Glenn R. Butterton

Articles

No abstract provided.

The World Trade Constitution, John O. Mcginnis, Mark L. Movsesian

Faculty Publications

Conventional wisdom holds that the World Trade Organization (WTO) necessarily poses a threat to sovereignty and representative government within its member nations. Professors McGinnis and Movsesian refute this view. They argue that the WTO can be understood as a constitutive structure that, by reducing the power of protectionist interest groups, can simultaneously promote international trade and domestic democracy. Indeed, in promoting both free trade and accountable government, the WTO reflects many of the insights that inform our own Madisonian Constitution. Professors McGinnis and Movsesian reject recent proposals to grant the WTO regulatory authority, endorsing instead the WTO's limited adjudicative power …

Unlabel Their Frankenstein Foods!: Evaluating A U.S. Challenge To The European Commission's Labeling Requirements, John S. Fredland

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The recent development of genetically-modified agriculture has been accepted enthusiastically by the U.S. agricultural producers, but the European public has expressed fear that the so-called "Frankenstein Foods" may be harmful to health and the environment. Faced with this public outcry, the European Commission. passed regulations, which mandated that food products containing genetically-modified agricultural products be labeled as such. Although the European Commission appears to have passed its labeling requirements without express or hidden protective intent, the regulations stand to make U.S. producers less competitive in the European market than their European counterparts. This Note contends that the United States should …

Combating Copyright Infringement In Russia: A Comprehensive Approach For Western Plaintiffs, David E. Miller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article addresses several measures that U.S. and European firms can undertake to combat copyright infringing activities in Russia. First, the Article attempts to dispel the notion that Russian law and the Russian government are inadequate to deal with copyright and piracy problems. In fact, recent surveys suggest that foreign plaintffs have achieved some success in arbitrazh courts. Furthermore, Russian authorities have begun to take steps to ensure that these decisions will be enforced.

Second, the Author suggests that the United States and European nations can apply pressure on the Russian Federation to ensure compliance with copyright laws in the …

Remarks, John H. Jackson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The limits of international trade must be understood within the context of the institutional framework of the WTO, in particular, the decision-making and dispute settlement processes. The WTO dispute settlement rules are contained in the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), which is Annex 2 to the WTO agreement. The DSU includes some comments on the philosophy, the direction and the purposes of the dispute settlement procedures. Article 3.2 of the DSU has some very interesting phrases. One of those phrases (roughly paraphrased) says, ''None of the reports of the dispute settlement procedure should result in a change, addition, or subtraction from …

The Product/Process Distinction - An Illusory Basis For Disciplining 'Unilateralism' In Trade Policy, Robert L. Howse, Donald H. Regan

Articles

It has become conventional wisdom that internal regulations that distinguish between products on the basis of their production method are GATT-illegal, where applied to restrict imports (although possibly some such measures might be justified as 'exceptions' under Article XX). The aim of this article is to challenge this conventional wisdom, both from a jurisprudential and a policy perspective. First, we argue there is no real support in the text and jurisprudence of the GATT for the product/process distinction. The notion developed in the unadopted Tuna/Dolphin cases that processed-based measures are somehow excluded from the coverage of Article III (National Treatment) …

The Perils Of Globalization And The World Trading System, John H. Jackson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The post-World War II world trading system is now more than fifty years old, and not surprisingly, it has evolved through a number of different stages of development and survived a series of perils. Recently, however, the perils seem even greater than before. The failure of the Seattle Ministerial Meeting of November-December 1999 focused the attention of the international community, almost like a prospective execution focusing the attention of the targeted person. A number of different factors have contributed to this perilous situation, and in this brief Essay, I want to look particularly at some of the institutional characteristics of …

The Annihilation Of Sea Turtles: Wto Intransigence And U.S. Equivocation, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluating U.S. Endangered Species Legislation - The Endangered Species Act As An International Example, Charlene D. Daniel

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Getting Along: The Evolution Of Dispute Resolution Regimes In International Trade Organizations, Andrea Kupfer Schneider

Michigan Journal of International Law

In the face of the remarkable growth of international organizations in the last fifty years, scholars in multiple disciplines have sought to explain why and how states cooperate. Dispute resolution is one of the most crucial components of international cooperation. Examining the dispute resolution regimes of international organizations in light of these theories can inform and help reform these evolving regimes.

Integration Of International Financial Regulatory Standards For The Chinese Economic Area: The Challenge For China, Hong Kong, And Taiwan, Lawrence L.C. Lee

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article initially reviews the current development of financial services that converge regulatory systems around the world. Along with focusing on banking and securities, this article assesses financial systems and regulators within China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan respectively. The evaluation of the CEA's financial system is based on recommendations issued by the Basle Committee. In addition, with respect to the principle of national treatment, this article evaluates the operations of foreign financial institutions in the CEA. In the future, participation in the WTO will enable the CEA to experience greater growth and increase its participation in the internationalization of financial …

Reflections On The Mjil Special Issue, John H. Jackson

Michigan Journal of International Law

A reflection on this special issue of Michigan Journal of International Law and its subject by Professor John H. Jackson.

The Long Road Ahead: Dispute Settlement In The Gatt/Wto, Dukgeun Ahn

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of International Trade Law and the GATT/WTO Dispute Settlement System by Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann

Environmental Disputes In The Gatt/Wto: Before And After Us-Shrimp Case, Dukgeun Ahn

Michigan Journal of International Law

This paper aims to present the legal analysis of the rulings by the Panel and, with more emphasis, the Appellate Body in US-Shrimp. Section I briefly reviews general dispute settlement mechanisms provided in international environmental conventions. Section II summarizes the practices regarding Article XX of the GATT in the GATTIWTO dispute settlement systems prior to US-Shrimp. Section III presents the factual background of US-Shrimp case and the legal analysis of several procedural and substantive issues specifically addressed in the Appellate Body report. Section IV examines the remaining issues to be addressed in trade disputes with environmental implication after …

Sovereignty, Compliance, And The World Trade Organization: Lessons From The History Of Supreme Court Review, Mark L. Movsesian

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article explores the nineteenth-century conflict over Supreme Court review and discusses its implications for today's debate on the WTO. Congress granted the Court appellate jurisdiction over state courts in one of its earliest pieces of legislation, the Judiciary Act of 1789. The first serious challenge to that jurisdiction occurred about a quarter-century later, however, in connection with the Court's famous opinion in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee. The conflict continued episodically for the next four decades, with several states refusing to acknowledge the Court's jurisdiction in particular cases, and ended only with the Civil War, which resolved this and …

Affordable Internet Access For All Americans, Mark J. Maier

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

There are times in our history where new technologies burst onto the scene and have a major impact on our lives. We live in one such time. The Internet is revolutionizing how people and organizations interact with each other. Examples of these paradigm changes include how students are now being educated online with minimal face time with their teachers; governments are being forced to adapt to the new circumstance where once formidable geographical boundaries between countries are being lowered by information technology; and the military is realizing that it needs to harness this new technology or be defeated by it.

Sovereignty, Compliance, And The World Trade Organization: Lessons From The History Of Supreme Court Review, Mark L. Movsesian

Faculty Publications

One of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO's) more remarkable and controversial innovations is its mechanism for resolving trade disputes among member states. Traditionally, states have resolved such disputes in "pragmatic" fashion, through negotiation and compromise informed by the relative power of the parties involved. But no longer: the WTO's Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (the DSU) provides that disputes between member states are to be resolved in adversary proceedings before impartial panels of experts." Under the DSU, panels have authority to decide whether members' laws violate international trade norms; panel decisions are essentially binding, though …

The Appellate Body, The Protection Of Sea Turtles And The Technique Of "Completing The Analysis", Sydney M. Cone Iii.

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Mfn Relations With Communist Countries: Is The Two-Decade Old System Working, Or Should It Be Revised Or Repealed?, Taunya L. Mclarty

University of Richmond Law Review

Most Favored Nation ('MEN") trade status has been a cornerstone of U.S. trade policy since 1934, and it is extended to all nations except those specifically denied MFN status by U.S. law. Since 1934, the United States has used MFN status as leverage to further U.S. national security and foreign policy goals, and on a few occasions, has used it as a tool to obtain trade concessions.

Where's The Beef? Mad Cows And The Blight Of The Sps Agreement, Ryan D. Thomas

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note will first outline the SPS Agreement itself--specifically, Part II attempts to present the relevant articles in a manner providing the necessary background for understanding the WTO dispute panel and Appellate Body decisions. Next, Part III discuss and critique, the dispute panel and Appellate Body decisions, specifically, noting the shortcomings of these decisions in the context of the SPS Agreement and its utility as a precedent of international dispute resolution in the area of international regulation of drugs and feedstuffs. Next, I will addresses the likely effect of these decisions upon a possible WTO resolution of the SRM dispute …

Liberalized Telecommunications Trade In The Wto: Implications For Universal Service Policy, Taunya L. Mclarty

Federal Communications Law Journal

The basic telecommunications commitments associated with the General Agreement on Trade in Services significantly affect market liberalization. Ultimately, a domestic legal framework that incorporates, as a part, some cost sharing for the furtherance of socially beneficial domestic policy would increase universal access benefits for some. Any detriment to those who are bearing the costs of it would be offset by the benefits that are obtained from GATS commitments on telecommunications that reduced trade barriers on services. Thus, this domestic/international arrangement could increase access to basic and enhanced services for some without decreasing universal service to any.

"Wildly Enthusiastic" About The First Multilateral Agreement On Trade In Telecommunications Services, Laura B. Sherman

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 1998, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) "Basic Telecom Agreement" dramatically opened to foreign competition basic telecommunications services of the sixty-nine WTO Members committing to the Agreement. The process and results of the WTO negotiations are important to telecommunications consumers because there will be increased market competition, thereby decreasing the price of such services and increasing consumer choice. The negotiations that led to the WTO Agreement resolved many difficult issues including: scheduling, regulator’s independence, competitive safeguards, and interconnection of telecommunications suppliers. The resolution of these issues will allow market access and foreign ownership in over 90 percent of major markets. …

Reformulating Executive And Legislative Relationships After Reformulated Gasoline: What's Best For Trade And The Environment?, Scott Daniel Mcbride

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.