Trade Law is a broad term used to refer to the package of laws that regulates international trade, including cross-border movement of goods, services, and even investment. It includes not only import-related laws such as customs and antidumping, but also export-related laws, at the national level and the international level, such as the laws administered by the WTO, UN sanctions, and dual use export controls under the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, and others.
I. Introduction In Part 1 of this post, we examined the draft amendment to the Polish Act on the National Cybersecurity System [“Polish National Cybersecurity Act”] introduced by the Polish Minister for Digitization on 7 September 2020.[1] We explained that Draft Article 66a of the Polish Act sets out new regulations for the Polish telecommunications…
I. Introduction On 7 September 2020, the Polish Minister for Digitization presented a draft amendment to the Act on the National Cybersecurity System [“Polish National Cybersecurity Act”].[1] Apart from a series of amendments related to cybersecurity issues, the newly introduced Draft Article 66a sets out new regulations applicable in the Polish telecommunications market. The new…
Global trade is slowing at an unprecedented rate, as illustrated in the chart below. This trend had started long before COVID-19 had made its inroads. This may appear surprising as firms are more networked and increasingly rely on global supply chains. In recent times, the efforts for time-bound compact trade deals have received great attention….
The popular video-sharing mobile app TikTok has been in the news of late. President Trump signed an executive order on August 6, banning TikTok unless it is acquired by a U.S. company by September 15th.[1] This order comes on the heels of similar action taken by India, which banned 59 applications owned by companies in…
Recent events, most notably the Covid-19 pandemic, have brought home the point as never before how inter-connected and inter-dependent the world that we live in has become, and how vulnerable humans are to nature and natural phenomena, and how fragile human societies and enterprises are in the face of forces and science that are beyond…
On May 12, 2020, the Indian Directorate General of Trade Remedies (‘DGTR’) initiated a new anti-dumping investigation against a specific exporter from Vietnam, Kim Tin MDF Joint Stock Company, for alleged dumping of ‘Plain Medium Density Fibre Boards’. Because this product is already subject to anti-dumping duties in India, the second case is of interest. …
Although politics surrounding the US-China Trade deal are now a bit unstable , the intellectual property (IP) chapter in particular reflects some important principles that may well guide US-China relations regardless; they are important for what they do, and do not, include. Unlike other US trade agreements, the ‘IP Chapter’ appears as the first chapter…
On 22 April 2020, the U.S. President, Donald Trump, announced a “Proclamation suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. Labour Market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 Outbreak” (“Proclamation”). Is the Proclamation compatible with the United States’ WTO obligations? Specifically, is in line with obligations relating to the supply of services…
In a recent US WTO challenge, the Panel decided that certain Indian export incentive schemes were prohibited export subsidies. The Panel Report demands that these schemes be phased out, despite the fact that it will adversely affect exporters and India’s large current account deficit.[1] Developing nations, like India, resort to export subsidies to stimulate industrial…
Between a rock (trade wars) and a hard place (U.S. critiques), the WTO Appellate Body has been passing through some turbulent times. Due to the paralysis of the Appellate Body, the European Union (EU) and some other twenty countries have agreed on an arrangement, known as the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which allows…
1. New Classification List of Public Companies for Foreign Investment Review On May 8, the Japanese authorities published a list of publicly-listed companies that are subject to prior examination for direct investments by foreign investors under the newly amended Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (the “FEFTA”). The subject companies are classified into three categories:…
The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (‘CISG’) epitomises the UNCITRAL’s endeavour to progressively unify and harmonise commercial law across the boundaries of nation-states. While the mere adoption and wide acceptance of the CISG are milestones in and of themselves, we should also not overlook the rich body of the…
Introduction The landmark decision in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India paved the way for protection of privacy including informational privacy by granting fundamental rights status to privacy rights. The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (“PDPB”) aims to protect privacy by establishing a mechanism to regulate and control the processing of personal data. The…
1. Introduction The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the frontline many national law and policy issues, from the importance of national health systems to work security. Similarly, in the international arena the outbreak of COVID-19 has shown the fragility of global supply chains and global cooperation.[1] While appeals not to destroy supply chains abound,…
Introduction The novel Covid-19 is spreading expeditiously through China and resultantly, U.S. and Australia have imposed a ban on travellers who have been through China in light of its safety and security concerns. WTO primarily regulates the goods and services and not the movement of persons however there is an increased probability of imposition of…
Whilst the EU-UK trade negotiations have barely commenced, one thing is already quite clear: the two sides are poles apart on the key issue of level playing field (LPF) provisions and the extent to which these should feature in a future EU-UK free trade agreement. The aim of these provisions, as originally set out in…
The High Court decision on the tariff classification of ‘Vita gummies’ and ‘Garcinia weight-loss preparation’. We have previously written at length on decisions of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), or State or Federal Courts on the classification of goods for customs purposes. The classification of goods is a vital process as many things follow from…
The full text of the US-China Phase One Deal, officially titled ‘Economic and Trade Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the People’s Republic of China’, was released on 15 January 2020. This 96-page agreement includes seven major chapters which cover the following matters respectively: (1) intellectual property,…
I am not going to get involved in the discussions that have followed the blog post by Jorge Miranda and Manual Sanchez-Miranda, or even to speculate on what is likely to happen after December 10th when the World Trade Organization (WTO) no longer has a functioning Appellate Body. Instead, I want to reflect briefly on…
The decision of the Victorian County Court in Technology Swiss Pty Ltd and Ecology SRL v Famous Pacific Shipping Pty Ltd which was delivered on 30 September 2019 and published on 13 November 2019 has already received some attention and commentary within industry. Much of the attention has focussed on one of the outcomes of the decision…
