Blame it on the WTO?

Blame it on the WTO?

Author: Sarah Joseph

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-04-14

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 0199565899

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The WTO is often accused of not paying enough attention to human rights. This book weighs these criticisms and examines their validity, both from a legal and from political and economic points of views. It asks whether the WTO is under an obligation to construct a fairer trade system and discusses suggestions for reform.


Blame It On the WTO: A Human Rights Critique

Blame It On the WTO: A Human Rights Critique

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is often accused of, at best, not paying enough attention to human rights or, at worst, facilitating and perpetuating human rights abuses. This book weighs these criticisms and examines their validity, incorporating legal arguments as well as some economic and political science perspectives. After introducing the respective WTO and human rights regimes, and discussing their legal and normative relationship to each other, the book presents a detailed analysis of the main human rights concerns relating to the WTO. These include the alleged democratic deficit within the Organization and the impact of WTO rules on the right to health, labour rights, the right to food, and on questions of poverty and development. Given that some of the most important issues within the WTO concern its impact on poor people within developing States, the book asks whether rich States have an obligation to the people of poorer States to construct a fairer trading system that better facilitates the alleviation of poverty and development. Against this background, the book examines the current Doha round proposals as well as suggestions for reform of the WTO to make it more 'human rights-friendly'.


Don't Blame It on WTO Law

Don't Blame It on WTO Law

Author: Alice Pirlot

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13:

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The idea that corporations should be taxed in the jurisdiction where they make their sales or provide their services is getting more and more attention in the policy debate on international taxation. In 2016, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan proposed to introduce a destination-based cash flow tax (DBCFT) in order to reform America's corporate income tax (CIT). Moreover, in the last few years, more and more countries have considered the adoption of new rules to tax the digital economy in the country where the users and/or the consumers are located.These proposals differ from traditional direct taxes imposed on corporations. They borrow from the tax design of indirect taxes, such as sales taxes or value added taxes. Consequently, it is difficult to predict whether these sui generis destination-based taxes will fit in with superior legal provisions, in particular international tax and trade law. One recurring legal argument against destination-based taxes is that they are likely to violate the law of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).Using the DBCFT as a case study, this Article will assess the different conflicts that could arise between new types of destination-based taxes and international trade law. Based on a critical approach informed by the analysis of the history and case-law surrounding destination-based taxes, this Article concludes that the likelihood for a DBCFT to be found incompatible with international trade law is much lower than past legal scholars have concluded. WTO law does not in itself prevent countries from adopting such taxes. Since this conclusion could be extended by analogy to other, new types of destination-based taxes, this Article could have important implications for policy-makers who are willing to move towards taxation in the country of destination.


The History and Future of the World Trade Organization

The History and Future of the World Trade Organization

Author: Craig VanGrasstek

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13:

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The History and Future of the World Trade Organization is a comprehensive account of the economic, political and legal issues surrounding the creation of the WTO and its evolution. Fully illustrated with colour and black-and-white photos dating back to the early days of trade negotiations, the publication reviews the WTO's achievements as well as the challenges faced by the organisation, and identifies the key questions that WTO members need to address in the future. The book describes the intellectual roots of the trading system, membership of the WTO and the growth of the Geneva trade community, trade negotiations and the development of coalitions among the membership, and the WTO's relations with other international organisations and civil society. Also covered are the organisation's robust dispute settlement rules, the launch and evolution of the Doha Round, the rise of regional trade agreements, and the leadership and management of the WTO.


The WTO after Hong Kong

The WTO after Hong Kong

Author: Donna Lee

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-05-07

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1134082851

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After the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) critical December 2005 Hong Kong ministerial meeting, negotiations to implement the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) broke down completely in the summer of 2006. This book offers a detailed and critical evaluation of how and why the negotiations arrived at this point and what the future holds for the WTO. It brings together leading scholars in the field of trade from across the social sciences who address the key issues at stake, the principal players in the negotiations, the role of fairness and legitimacy in the Doha Round, and the prospects for the DDA’s conclusion. The WTO after Hong Kong is the most comprehensive account of the current state of the World Trade Organization and will be of enormous interest to students of trade politics, international organizations, development and international political economy.


Investing in Skills for Inclusive Trade

Investing in Skills for Inclusive Trade

Author: Marc Bacchetta

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789221296416

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In recent decades, the global economy has experienced a profound transformation due to trade integration and technological progress as well as important political changes. This transformation has been accompanied by significant positive effects at the global level, as increased trade integration has helped to raise incomes in advanced and developing economies, lifting millions out of poverty. At the same time, it has translated into changes experienced by individuals, companies and communities. While overall, better job opportunities are on the rise, workers who are forced to leave their existing jobs may find it difficult to share in these improvements. Policies aimed at facilitating adjustment can reduce the number of those left behind by trade or technology, while at the same time raising the net gains from these developments, improving overall efficiency and boosting incomes. Given the role of skills in productivity and in trade performance as well as in access to employment and wage distribution, a strong emphasis on skills development is vital for both firms and workers. This publication argues that in the current fast-changing context of globalization, where technology and trade relations evolve rapidly, the responsiveness of skills supply to demand plays a central role not only from an efficiency perspective, but also from a distributional perspective. Featuring results from the ILO's Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification (STED) programme, this report shows that appropriate skills development policies are key to helping firms participate in trade, and also to helping workers find good jobs. Co-published with World Trade Organization.


Free Trade, Free World

Free Trade, Free World

Author: Thomas W. Zeiler

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9780807824580

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In this era of globalization, it is easy to forget that today's free market values were not always predominant. But as this history of the birth of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) shows, the principles and practices underlying our current international economy once represented contested ground between U.S. policymakers, Congress, and America's closest allies. Here, Thomas Zeiler shows how the diplomatic and political considerations of the Cold War shaped American trade policy during the critical years from 1940 to 1953. Zeiler traces the debate between proponents of free trade and advocates of protectionism, showing how and why a compromise ultimately triumphed. Placing a liberal trade policy in the service of diplomacy as a means of confronting communism, American officials forged a consensus among politicians of all stripes for freer_if not free_trade that persists to this day. Constructed from inherently contradictory impulses, the system of international trade that evolved under GATT was flexible enough to promote American economic and political interests both at home and abroad, says Zeiler, and it is just such flexibility that has allowed GATT to endure.


Promoting Peace Through International Law

Promoting Peace Through International Law

Author: Cecilia Marcela Bailliet

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2015-01-29

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 0191034304

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Within international law there is no unified concept of peace. This book addresses this gap by considering the liberal conception of peace within Western philosophy alongside the principle of 'peaceful coexistence' supported in the East. By tracing the evolution of the international law of peace through its historical and philosophical origins, this book investigates whether there is a 'right to peace'. The book explores how existing international law and institutions contribute to the establishment of peace, or how they fail to do so. It sets out how international law promotes the negative dimension of peace-the absence of violence-as well as its positive dimension: the presence of underlying conditions for peace. It also investigates whether international actors and institutions have particular obligations in relation to the establishment and maintenance of peace. Discussions include: the relationships between the different regimes of human rights, trade, development, the environment, and regulation of arms trade with peace; the role of women, refugees, and other groups seeking equal treatment; the role of peacekeepers, transitional justice mechanisms, international courts fact-finding missions, and national constitutional frameworks in upholding peace in practice; and how civil society participates in the promotion and safeguarding of peace. The book's comprehensive treatment of the concept of peace in international law makes it an ideal reference work for those working in the field, as well as for students.


The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis

The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis

Author: Richard E. Baldwin

Publisher:

Published: 2011-03

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 9781907142239

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The global financial crisis of 2008/9 is the Great Depression of the 21st century. For many though, the similarities stop at the Wall Street Crash as the current generation of policymakers have acted quickly to avoid the mistakes of the past. Yet the global crisis has made room for mistakes all of its own. While governments have apparently kept to their word on refraining from protectionist measures in the style of 1930s tariffs, there has been a disturbing rise in "murky protectionism." Seemingly benign, these crisis-linked policies are twisted to favour domestic firms, workers and investors. This book, first published as an eBook on VoxEU.org in March 2009, brings together leading trade policy practitioners and experts - including Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. Initially its aim was to advise policymakers heading in to the G20 meeting in London, but since the threat of murky protectionism persists, so too do their warnings.