Lawful Remedy or Illegal Response? Resolving the Issue of Foreign Subsidization Under WTO Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Victor Crochet ◽  
Marcus Gustafsson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Fair Competition ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Do So

Abstract Discontentment is growing such that governments, and notably that of China, are increasingly providing subsidies to companies outside their jurisdiction, ‘buying their way’ into other countries’ markets and undermining fair competition therein as they do so. In response, the European Union recently published a proposal to tackle such foreign subsidization in its own market. This article asks whether foreign subsidies can instead be addressed under the existing rules of the World Trade Organization, and, if not, whether those rules allow States to take matters into their own hands and act unilaterally. The authors shed light on these issues and provide preliminary guidance on how to design a response to foreign subsidization which is consistent with international trade law.

scholarly journals The Development of an Information Society and Electronic Commerce in the European Union in the Context of Selected Documents of the EU and International Organisations

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-118
Author(s):  
Jacek Hibner
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
International Exchange ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Aspects

Due to the rapidly growing use of the Internet, the development of electronic commerce (defined by the World Trade Organization as “the production, distribution, marketing, sale or delivery of goods and services by electronic means”1) has become one of the key aspects of today’s sustained growth. It influences productivity, facilitates the international movement of goods and services, and stimulates export and import trade. The European Union, as well as many multinational organisations, is working towards the harmonisation of their rules, and to facilitate and streamline this kind of international exchange. In this article, the author presents selected documents on electronic commerce published by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Chamber of Commerce and the European Union since 1994.

scholarly journals China’s ‘Going Global’ Policy: Transnational Production Subsidies Under the WTO SCM Agreement

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-863
Author(s):  
Victor Crochet ◽  
Vineet Hegde
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
World Trade Organization Agreement ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Production Subsidies ◽  
Shed Light

ABSTRACT As China is increasingly ‘going global’, foreign direct investment under its Belt and Road Initiative is becoming heavily scrutinized. One of the concerns is that Chinese companies establishing themselves in third countries would be unfairly advantaged by the financing they receive under China’s expansionist strategy. This financing gives rise to a situation that had long been described as ‘unrealistic’, in which a government subsidizes a firm outside of its territory. When such a firm’s products are exported to third countries, could such financing be disciplined under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures? Should such financing, which enhances development in the receiving countries, be disciplined at all? The authors shed light on these issues and provide a preliminary guidance on how to structure this problem under international trade law.

scholarly journals SHELTERING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT TO ‘GREEN’ ELECTRICITY: THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gracia Marín Durán
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Government Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
The World ◽  
Institutional Contexts

AbstractSince the Canada – Renewable Energy (2013) dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) has been the focal point of academic debate on the trade-environment interface, with a growing consensus that WTO subsidy rules need to be revisited with a view to securing ‘policy space’ for government support for renewable energy. This article explores whether, as suggested by some scholars, the European Union (EU)’s system of justifications for renewable energy aid could serve as a source of inspiration for the WTO. While this proposition may appear attractive at first sight, it is hardly conceivable, or even desirable, that the EU's approach to sheltering government support for renewable energy could be transposed to the WTO. This is because the two systems of subsidy control are fundamentally different in both substantive and procedural terms and, importantly, these differences reflect distinct objectives and political/institutional contexts. Nonetheless, this comparative analysis sheds light on where the key challenges lie for the WTO in ensuring that international trade rules and climate change mitigation objectives are mutually supportive. It is argued that the case for reviewing the SCM Agreement cannot be made by simply forging parallels with the EU's regulatory model, but needs to be carefully construed on the basis of a proper understanding of whether and how green policy space is actually constrained under the current WTO subsidy and trade remedy rules. However, this requires better information on existing WTO members’ practice in relation to renewable energy subsidies, as well as on their environmental effectiveness and possible trade-distortive impact. In this sense, the most valuable lesson that the WTO can draw from the EU's regulatory experience is the imperative of improving the transparency and knowledge-enhancing elements of its subsidy control system.

scholarly journals IMPLIKASI KEBIJAKAN DAN DISKRIMINASI PELARANGAN EKSPOR DAN IMPOR MINYAK KELAPA SAWIT DAN BIJIH NIKEL TERHADAP PEREKONOMIAN INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-236
Author(s):  
Sekar Wiji Rahayu ◽  
Fajar Sugianto
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
The World

AbstractThe creation of free trade provides a large advantage and role in driving the economic growth of a country, especially for developing countries that have abundant natural resources. One of the systems in free trade carried out by countries in the world in buying and selling produce is known as an export-import system. Where the seller is usually referred to as an exporter and the buyer is referred to as an importer. Like the general trading system, in international trade there are also obstacles that can be detrimental to one party and / or several parties in conducting international trade. These obstacles can be in the form of tariff barriers and / or non-tariff barriers. Non-tariff barriers can take the form of certain discriminations imposed by a particular country, both to protect the value of its production and to redevelop the product into something of even higher value. Both are pursed on one thing, hedging. Discrimination is also imposed by the European Union against the ban on imports of Palm Oil from Indonesia on the grounds that Palm Oil has a negative impact on the environment. Bearing in mind the European Union is one of the countries active in Environmental Health campaigns. Discrimination is also carried out by Indonesia to stop all exports of Nickel Ore and / or other minerals to the European Union with the consideration to hedge minerals that have not been downstreamed. Based on the discrimination actions, the two countries plan to submit complaints and complaints to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a form of the two countries' objections to the policies taken.Keywords: international trade; mineral downstreaming; oil palmAbstrakTerciptanya perdagangan bebas memberikan keuntungan serta peran yang besar dalam mendorong pertumbuhan ekonomi suatu negara, khususnya bagi negara-negara berkembang yang memiliki Sumber Daya Alam (SDA) yang melimpah. Salah satu sistem dalam perdagangan bebas yang dilakukan oleh negara-negara di dunia dalam melakukan jual-beli hasil produksi dikenal sebagai sistem ekspor-impor. Dimana pihak penjual lazimnya disebut sebagai eksportir dan pihak pembeli disebut sebagai importir. Selayaknya sistem perdagangan pada umumnya, di dalam perdagangan internasional juga terdapat hambatan-hambatan yang dapat merugikan satu pihak dan/atau beberapa pihak dalam yang melakukan perdagangan internasional. Hambatan tersebut dapat berupa hambatan tarif dan/atau hambatan non tarif. Hambatan non tarif dapat berupa diskriminasi-diskriminasi tertentu yang diberlakukan oleh suatu negara tertentu, baik untuk melindungi nilai produksinya maupun untuk mengembangkan kembali produk tersebut menjadi sesuatu yang lebih tinggi lagi nilainya. Keduanya mengerucut pada satu hal, yakni lindung nilai. Diskriminasi tersebut juga diberlakukan oleh Uni Eropa terhadap pelarangan impor Kelapa Sawit dari Indonesia dengan alasan bahwa Minyak Kelapa Sawit menimbulkan dampak yang buruk terhadap lingkungan. Mengingat Uni Eropa merupakan salah satu negara yang aktif dalam kampanye-kampanye kesehatan lingkungan. Aksi diskriminasi juga diberlakukan oleh Indonesia untuk menghentikan seluruh ekspor Bijih Nikel dan/atau mineral lainnya kepada Uni Eropa dengan pertimbangan untuk melakukan lindung nilai terhadap mineral-mineral yang belum di hilirisasi. Atas tindakan-tindakan diskiriminasi tersebut, kedua negara berencana untuk mengajukan keluhan dan gugatan ke World Trade Organization (WTO) sebagai bentuk keberatan kedua negara terhadap kebijakan-kebijakan yang diambil.Kata kunci: hilirisasi mineral; kelapa sawit; perdagangan internasional

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