The World Trade Organisation cannot be deemed truly international without the full participation of China, a massive market with an increasing number of highly sophisticated sectors. Yet'although China did accede to the WTO in 2001, after fifteen years of negotiations'WTO members persist in classifying China as a non-market economy, with all the trade restrictions such labelling entails. The EC in particular continues to curtail the flow of Chinese-European trade, despite some recent liberalisation in EC import and antidumping regulations. In this important book Dr. Hoogmartens clearly points the way to an equitable resolution of the complex problems raised by the friction between China's planned economy and EC trade policy instruments. The 'economic interface' he constructs takes account of such crucial elements as the following: China's 'unfinished' legal and economic reforms;the danger that the EC may develop an abusive protectionist stance;the challenge to the EC of increased Chinese competition;the persistence of Chinese state-owned enterprises;the absence of a satisfactory methodology to deal with the Chinese variant of a non-market economy;the possible adjustment of EC antidumping regulations vis-à-vis China;emergency safeguards;the role of the rule of law in trade regulation; andthe 'translatability' of Western social and political institutions. Addressing as it does a highly salient present and future aspect of the global economy, EC Trade Law Following China's WTO Accession will be of enormous value to policymakers in international economic law at all national and supranational levels. The author's reasoned and cautious analysis builds a sound platform for the ongoing development of peaceful and mutually beneficial commercial relations between Europe and China.

The application of the antidumping instrument by WTO members is often controversial because of the protectionist character of these measures where inefficient industries are protected from foreign competition. The legal framework within the WTO has loopholes that leave wide discretion to the investigating authorities to determine that a product is dumped, thereby emphasizing the protectionist nature of antidumping. The use of antidumping becomes even more controversial when WTO members use the antidumping tool beyond the legal scope of WTO law. The questions raised in this book concern the EU dumping determinations and their conformity with WTO law. This thought-provoking work examines whether European Union legislation on dumping, the practices adopted by the European Commission and the Council, as well as the decisions by the EC courts are in conformity with WTO law. The author's findings are particularly relevant given the frequent use of antidumping measures by EU authorities, especially as relates to Asian countries, and he carefully documents areas where the EU infringes WTO law.

Country Driving illuminates the vast, shifting landscape of a traditionally rural nation that, having once built walls against outsiders, is building the roads and factory towns that will shape the twenty-first century. --Book Jacket.

This book delves into the trade disputes between the EU and China and identifies the causes for trade disputes. It examines how the disputes will shape the China-EU trade relations, and offers a macro overview on how the issues can be resolved or at least how they should be managed.

In the debate over the treatment of China in trade remedy investigations, this book focuses exclusively on anti-subsidy law. As such, it brings a long neglected and often underestimated area of international trade law to the fore.Exploring the delicate relations between the WTO, the EU and China, it focuses on the current legal framework for the use of alternative benchmarks in anti-subsidy law and analyses the consequences that arise from its practical application in investigations against China. Scrutinizing recent developments in WTO anti-subsidy law, in particular the adoption of country-specific rules in accession protocols, the book reveals the shortcomings of the current approach and argues for fundamental reforms. Accordingly, the book provides academics and practitioners alike with vital insights into the legal evolution and practical application of alternative benchmark methodologies in the context of WTO and EU anti-subsidy law, while also putting forward a critical analysis of the status quo.

Joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) enables China to reform its legal order and to move towards a system incorporating major principles of the rule of law. The WTO also serves as an external impetus that guides contemporary Chinese legal reform and orients it in ways that domestic forces alone could not achieve and sustain. Much discussion on the WTO and the Chinese legal system has focused on the issue of compliance ― whether the Chinese legal system has the capacity to fulfill China’s WTO accession commitments. The focus of this work is less concerned with compliance issues per se, but rather with the extent to which the WTO’s requirements vis-à-vis China actually affect the Chinese legal system. The fine difference between the two approaches lies in the fact that efforts by the Chinese government to meet its WTO obligations necessarily impact the Chinese legal order and its way of functioning, even if their end results may or may not lead to full compliance with what is required of it by the WTO. This timely work exposes many behind-the-scene dealings and relies on valuable information that is not publicly available. Not only does it preserve for the historical record important details of the Chinese WTO accession, it also sheds light on the travaux préparatoires of China’s accession agreement and the negotiation history of important issues, some of which remain relevant and highly contentious today. As expressed by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy in his foreword to the book, ‘through this work, Esther Lam succeeds in demonstrating how WTO membership can benefit both the acceding country and the wider WTO family of nations.’

Starting from the premise that a multilateral legal framework is the surest way to achieve predictability and transparency under conditions of increasing reliance on internationally traded energy, the essays gathered in this book treat the many complex interlocking issues raised by examining that desideratum in the light of current reality. Concentrating on the application of WTO agreements to energy trade - as well as energy-related issues addressed in the current WTO negotiations - the authors offer in-depth discussion and analysis of such issues as the following: the effectiveness of existing WTO agreements in addressing issues pertinent to energy trade how restrictive practices of energy endowed countries can be tackled under existing international trade rules; existing frameworks for investment in highly capital-intensive energy infrastructure projects;and conditions for access to pipelines and transmission grids; regulation of energy services; bioenergy development and trade; energy issues addressed in the WTO accession negotiations of energy endowed countries; international instruments of resolution of energy-related disputes.

Standards are a feature of virtually all areas of trade in products and services. Yet, although standards may achieve an efficient economic exchange, they have discriminatory consequences for trading partners when governments formulate or apply them in such a way as to cause obstacles to trade, thus enrolling standards among the increasingly significant ‘non-tariff barriers’ regulated by the WTO. This unique and original study analyses the functions that standards fulfil in the market, their effect on trade, and the legal regime based on harmonization, equivalence and mutual recognition developed by the WTO to deal with standards. The author investigates the way in which both the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures Agreements regulate these three tools, and discusses key topics including: The definition of the concept ‘International Standard’ in the TBT Agreement. Guidelines on equivalence issued by organizations such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the World Organization for Animal Health and the International Plant Protection Convention. Parallels between the EC mutual recognition regime and the WTO system. This is the first work on its subject. With its detailed and practical analysis of WTO law on standards, the book is a fundamental reference for practitioners, academics and policy makers in international trade law.

The author presents substantial case studies of the effect of the abolition of quotas on global trade in this sector. Concentrating mainly on China and Pakistan but also examining India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and seven other Asian T&C manufacturing countries, he contrasts post-abolition reality with pre-abolition predictions of the impact of abolishing quotas, and details the continuing distortion caused by tariffs, non-tariff barriers and through trade remedies such as safeguards and anti-dumping. All of the analysis is supported by the judicious use and interpretation of extensive statistics, compelling arguments, and interviews with entrepreneurs and trade officials in Pakistan (as a case study of a country predicted to be a major beneficiary of quota expiry).