Questions tagged [wto]
Questions relating to the World Trade Organisation.
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Why is the MPIA a stopgap measure and cannot fully replace the Appellate Body in the WTO?
In March 2020, the European Union and 15 other WTO members agreed to a
Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). This created
an alternative appellate body while the official WTO body ...
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4
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1
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Did the U.S. propose solutions to the functioning of the Appellate Body at the WTO?
But the key here, regardless of whether it is the Appellate Body
specifically or dispute settlement more generally, is to make actual
proposals for reform. It is fine for the United States to have
...
- 31.1k
3
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1
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Which country received the most complaints relating to violations to the TRIPS agreement at the WTO?
One of the fundamental characteristics of the TRIPS Agreement is that
it makes protection of intellectual property rights an integral part
of the multilateral trading system, as embodied in the WTO.
...
- 31.1k
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2
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Why do WTO members tolerate a low level of commitment in the audiovisual services?
Audiovisual services is one of the sectors where the number of WTO
members with specific commitments is among the lowest. Only 18 WTO
members undertook commitments following the conclusion of the ...
- 31.1k
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Why are most developing countries not using China's mercantilistic and state-led economic policies with heavily subsidized state companies?
The commitments and concessions that China made were deeper than those
made by almost all other WTO members. Countries that joined the WTO
after 1995, including China, acceded through the process ...
- 31.1k
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227
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What can the EU do against China's mineral bans?
It appears that the Commission and some trade diplomats want to
discuss the problem at the WTO, where the EU could bring a case
against China — much as it did when Beijing slapped its export ban on
...
- 31.1k
-3
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2
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Can China discriminate all Western companies involved in critical technologies now that the U.S. banned critical technologies to China? [closed]
YMTC recently acquired semiconductor manufacturing equipment from Western companies with the intention of utilizing them in their factory and receiving ongoing maintenance and support. The tools' ...
- 31.1k
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Is the reliance of the MPIA making the WTO less effective?
In March 2020, the European Union and 15 other WTO members agreed to a
Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). This created
an alternative appellate body while the official WTO body ...
- 31.1k
4
votes
1
answer
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Has the WTO adjudicated any disputes in which unofficial trade barriers were alleged?
In a recent case against China, the EU alleges that various "errors" have started to pop up in the processing Lithuanian goods by the Chinese customs. However, no explicit Chinese laws or ...
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Does China (still) use non-public trade regulations (neibu cankao), thus avoiding WTO scrutiny?
According to a 2014 paper by US law professor:
many WTO violations take place in the interstices of law, areas where government officials exercise discretion: whether or not to register a foreign ...
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How do you determine if a country's track record in WTO compliance is good?
Second, it argues that for those prac- tices that are protectionist or
otherwise problematic, international trade rules should be utilized to
steer China in a market-oriented direction. Despite any ...
- 31.1k
2
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1
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Is there a specific list of WTO cases that form the core of the anti-dumping loss concerns of the US?
According to a 2019 write-up on Bruegel (by a German author)
The US complains that the Appellate Body goes too far in its interpretation of the WTO treaties, in particular in the area of antidumping. ...
- 146k
2
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1
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112
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What mechanism allows the US to single-handedly block WTO Appellate Body appointments?
I've read this numerous times that the US has been blocking Appellate Body appointments, e.g. a 29 August 2022 summary of the WTO affairs contains:
Mexico, speaking on behalf of 126 members, ...
- 146k
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186
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Why didn't the EU bring as many WTO cases against China than against the United States?
Why didn't the EU bring as many WTO cases against China than against the United States?
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/united-states-china-trade-disputes-charts/
I was looking at the charts, ...
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How many major intergovernmental organizations are there?
By 'major' I mean organizations that have more than half of the total number of UN states participating and/or all five of the permanent members.
By intergovernmental organization, I mean any body ...
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What are the merits of Korea filling a complaint against the U.S. for the Inflation Reduction Act?
Korea’s Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang earlier this week said he was
considering filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization
against the act. Some 25 lawmakers in South Korea proposed a
...
- 31.1k
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299
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What are the pros and cons of willfully engaging in IP piracy?
https://www.belmontentertainmentlaw.com/2022/04/12/your-patent-is-no-good-here-russias-war-on-intellectual-property-following-war-in-ukraine/
What are the pros and cons of wilfully engaging in IP ...
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6
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Why did Russia not lose its "most favored nation" status after the annexation of Crimea?
According to CNN, Russia's status as a "most favored nation" is being under scrutiny:
As a member of the World Trade Organization, Russia is treated as a
most favored nation, which gives it ...
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(Why) was there no litigation if Pakistan didn't grant India MFN status, even though both are WTO members since 1995?
As Reuters informs us:
The World Trade Organization's 164 members commit to treating other members equally so they can all benefit from each other's lowest tariffs, highest import quotas and fewest ...
- 146k
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What practical difference would it make, over the existing US sanctions, if Russia's PNTR status were revoked?
Apparently there's a difference of opinion between the White House and Congress on whether to revoke Russia's "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with the US.
What practical difference ...
- 146k
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Has Olaf Scholz made any comments about the proposed Covid-19 vaccines TRIPS waiver?
There have been calls for him to personally take a stance on the matter of the proposed TRIPS waiver for Covid-19 vaccines patents. The calls were in fact addressed to a few other potential future ...
- 146k
4
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129
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What happens to the WTO if no director-general is elected?
According to CGTN News:
The time frame for the election is yet to be decided – Azevedo has
said he will leave on 31 August – but the WTO director-general is
chosen by consensus by its 164 member ...
- 31.1k
0
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1
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50
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How can the director-general of the WTO influence matters of policy?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director-General_of_the_World_Trade_Organization
The director-general of the World Trade Organization is the officer of
the World Trade Organization (WTO) responsible ...
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2
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Why do some scholars believe that the WTO gives more bargaining power to Europe and the U.S. if they have no voting rights?
Richard Harold Steinberg (2002) argues that although the WTO's
consensus governance model provides law-based initial bargaining,
trading rounds close through power-based bargaining favoring Europe
and ...
- 31.1k
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98
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What would be the motivation to not ratify the TRIPS agreement?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIPS_Agreement
Looking at the article above, some countries have not ratified the TRIPS agreement, is there a reason to not ratify the treaty? I thought that this ...
- 31.1k
2
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0
answers
59
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Why isn't the TRIMs agreement renegotiated so that large countries such as India and China are no longer considered to be developing countries?
Why isn't the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) renegotiated so that large countries such as India and China are no longer considered to be developing countries? European ...
- 31.1k
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2
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How can the US President create a waiver for patent enforcement?
According to a recent statement by the US Trade Representative:
“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The ...
- 52.7k
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Can imports be banned according to method of production?
If an imported product is functionally indistinguishable from a domestically traded product, but is produced by a different process, are countries free to ban (or apply large tariffs to) that import?
...
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276
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Good Friday Agreement and WTO rules
WTO 'equal treatment' rules were not mentioned anywhere in the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) when it was first formulated in the late 1990s. But do Global Trade rules implicitly and automatically ...
- 573
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129
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Homework on Principle of National Treatment (WTO)
Good evening all,
The question that I have is basically homework.
Country A and C are member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A trades regularly with C, but recently faced an issue. A is ...
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Why did China target Australia for economic sanctions?
China initiated an anti-dumping investigation against Australian wine. Previously, China had increased tariffs on Australian barley. Why did China do this? Is there merit to this claim?
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Trading on WTO Rules
Many Countries are a member of some Regional Trading Organization, which facilitates trade within a particular continent, or have bilateral trade deals with other Countries. Are there any examples of ...
- 573
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2
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805
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Why did the EU threaten to retaliate over Airbus-related tariffs even after they were allowed by the WTO?
I'm probably missing something in the long saga of the Airbus-Boeing WTO complaints, but today the BBC reported that:
The US has been given the go-ahead to impose tariffs on $7.5bn (£6.1bn) of goods ...
- 146k
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Can a government force another government to force its private companies to transfer technology under the GATT, WTO?
http://cloudfront-files-1.publicintegrity.org/legacy_projects/pdf_reports/BUYINGTHEAMERICANMIND.pdf
It is true that the Japanese government has taken steps to open its
government funded ...
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2
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2
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280
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Is there a limit on how much a country can spend on R&D according to the WTO?
Is there a limit on how much a country can spend on R&D according to the WTO? I know there are rules against state subsidies, but I don't know if it allows a state-funded institution like an ...
user27009
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1
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Under what circumstances can the members of the WTO bring about some changes to the WTO laws?
Under what circumstances can the members of the WTO bring about some changes to the WTO laws? People have been calling for a reform of the WTO, but there doesn't seem to be a rule that says how the ...
- 31.1k
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0
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380
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Is "forced" technology transfer against the WTO TRIPS agreement?
Is "forced" technology transfer against WTO TRIPS agreement? The TRIPS agreement state that it's an agreement that seeks to help both users and producers benefit from the agreement through technology ...
- 31.1k
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2
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592
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What can the U.S. do against the EU subsidizing its tech industry?
The EU drafted a plan for a hundred billion-dollar fund to take on US tech firms, or so the reports say.
I was wondering if that plan is against WTO rules as I have heard that state subsidies are ...
- 31.1k
3
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1
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Does the WTO address "technology theft" as opposed to trademark and copyright infringement?
Does the WTO address "technology theft" as opposed to trademark and copyright infringement? In all of the text I came across involving intellectual property protection in the WTO about China we talk ...
user27009
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What is the most severe retaliation possible under article 22 of WTO dispute settlement?
Article 22 of WTO dispute settlement as found in Annex 2 of the WTO Agreement deals with compensation and the suspension of concessions.
I'm wondering what kind of retaliation this entails. The ...
JJJ♦
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Open Irish border and WTO's most favoured nation principle
In a recent question on Brexit, Kevin suggested the following solution allowing the UK to be out of the EU customs union while keeping the UK-Ireland border to a minimum:
One could imagine Ireland ...
JJJ♦
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Why didn't any country complain to the WTO about the car company bailouts by the U.S.?
Why didn't any country complain to the WTO about the car company bailouts by the U.S.? Aren't financial bailouts considered to be illegal subsidies according to the WTO? If so, why didn't any country ...
- 31.1k
2
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3
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559
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Is the U.S. openly pursuing the agenda of containing the economic development of developing countries?
Is the U.S. pursuing the agenda of containing the economic development of developing countries? Under the WTO, countries like Vietnam and India should have favorable treatment, but recently the Trump ...
user27009
2
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1
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484
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What happens if a country does not abide by WTO rules?
I've read a few articles lately about Brexit (for example this one at The Guardian and this one at the BBC) that take it for granted that the tariffs and conditions set by the WTO would have to be ...
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Under which conditions are WTO members allowed to slap a tariff on foreign goods?
Under which conditions are WTO members allowed to slap a tariff on foreign goods? I know China has protected its economy with tariffs and so did the EU against American goods, but I was wondering if ...
- 31.1k
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If China is forcing U.S. firms to hand over technology, why hasn't the U.S. taken China to the WTO and filed a complaint?
The U.S. keeps saying that China is forcing its companies to hand over technology, but then if it's the case as they say, then why didn't the U.S. take China to the WTO in order to complain about it? ...
- 31.1k
5
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What can other WTO members do against the American move to block the WTO judge reappointment?
What can other WTO members do against the American move to block the WTO judge reappointment? Is the WTO effectively frozen as the U.S. blocked the WTO judge reappointment? What can other members do ...
- 31.1k
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Does the U.S. have the right to pressure Asian and European countries to not use Huawei equipments?
Does the U.S. have the right to pressure Asian and European countries to not use Huawei equipment? Is that against WTO rules? I thought the national security clause only applied within a country's own ...
- 31.1k
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2
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99
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If technology transfer is part of the TRIPS agreement, then why does the U.S. see an issue with it in respect to China?
If technology transfer is part of the TRIPS agreement, then why does the U.S. see an issue with it in respect to China?
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/techtransfer_e.htm
I've heard ...
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What is the U.S. seeking to achieve by trying to make sure that G20 members such as Mexico and Turkey cannot claim the WTO developing country status?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-wto/u-s-drafts-wto-reform-to-halt-handouts-for-big-and-rich-states-idUSKCN1Q426T
After reading that article, it seems that the U.S. is pushing to remove ...
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