After a few weeks of being fairly quiet, think tanks doing things on trade policy have been churning out reports again – long or short – on some big-ticket items: WTO reform, EU data flows and EU Turkey relations.
WTO crisis and reform
WTO dispute settlement body formally starts reform conversation
Reform has emerged, like a submarine, to the surface of the World Trade Organization’s turbulent waters as the issue was formally discussed for the first time at today’s monthly meeting of the dispute settlement body.
THINK TANK: Multilateralism worth saving
The WTO says multilateralism has helped keep the food price crisis in check after the war in Ukraine. And the think tank Bruegel chimes in with its own report on how the EU should respond to US green subsidies.
THINK TANK: Trade policy’s paradigm shift sidelines WTO
War, a pandemic and the impending climate crisis have greatly impacted the global trade regime. ‘Multipurpose trade policy’ is the new game in town and the tight grip that international trade law once had over the international trading order is loosening. This paradigm shift is not without its challenges. These …
WTO secretariat ends year with painful budget squeeze
The year at the World Trade Organization’s secretariat is ending on a bitter note amidst a row with India over the use of a 2021 budget surplus. In a context of planning uncertainty, the secretariat did not renew the contracts of around fifty consultants with time-limited work arrangements at headquarters …
United States faces grilling over its trade policies in Geneva
The United States’ trade policy is this week’s focus at the World Trade Organization in Geneva. The country’s trade policy review happens in principle every two years. Given recent developments and the United States’ global status, the TPR attracted particularly strong interest from other members of the global trade institution. …
WTO panel rules US Section 232 steel, aluminium tariffs illegal
Panellists in the dispute settlement cases brought by China, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey in an almost coordinated fashion after 2018 could no longer delay the publication of perhaps the politically most salient case in the World Trade Organization’s twenty-seven year history: the United States Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs. …
INTERVIEW: WTO members need ways to ‘agree to disagree’ on security
Members of the World Trade Organization are increasingly using security as a reason to restrict trade and investment in a discriminatory way. Borderlex’s Iana Dreyer spoke to Mona Paulsen about how they can be made – somewhat – accountable for not abusing their powers. *** Recently described as a ‘black …
WTO: End of MFN and the fizzling out of international trade justice
A reality check on the World Trade Organization after a week spent in and around Geneva. Warning: it’s a long read.
WTO reform talks: dispute settlement, appeals come into focus
WTO dispute settlement system reform discussions are getting off to a timid start. This comes as decisive alternative appeals arbitration panels are gradually coming on stream in Geneva.
