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A Role for Trade Remedies in Greening International Trade?

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Greening Trade Remedies

Part of the book series: European Yearbook of International Economic Law ((EYIELMONO,volume 31))

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Abstract

Traditionally, the trade and environment narrative in the WTO revolves around several landmark decisions in GATT/WTO cases on restrictive government policies and environmental justifications. In recent years, however, climate change has shifted the debate in the direction of the WTO agreements dealing with unfair trade. Against that background, this chapter identifies two potential roles trade remedies can play in achieving environmental and sustainability goals: First, restrictions on the use of trade remedies may be used as a tool to contribute to the promotion of green industries. Second, trade remedies could be considered as a level playing field instrument to internalise environmental costs of production.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    World Commission on the Environment and Development, Our Common Future, 1987, para. 27.

  2. 2.

    Ibid.

  3. 3.

    Gehring (2005), p. 368.

  4. 4.

    See UN General Assembly, Report of the United Nations conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992, Annex I: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. I), 12 August 1992; World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development: The final text of agreements negotiated by governments at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 26 August–4 September 2002, Johannesburg; UN General Assembly, 2005 World Summit Outcome, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 16 September 2005, A/RES/60/1, 24 October 2005; UN General Assembly, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, A/RES/70/1, 21 October 2015, SDG17.

  5. 5.

    Preamble to the WTO Agreement, recital 1 (emphasis added).

  6. 6.

    Ibid, recital 3.

  7. 7.

    Hestermeyer and Grotto (2008), Preamble WTO Agreement, para 23.

  8. 8.

    This clause did not appear in the GATT, nor in the WTO. See Kaufmann (2014) para 7–9.

  9. 9.

    See United Nations, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019, available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2019.pdf (last accessed 24 June 2023). See, in detail, Bellmann and Tipping (2015).

  10. 10.

    UN General Assembly, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, A/RES/70/1, 21 October 2015. See United Nations, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019, available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2019.pdf (last accessed 24 June 2023).

  11. 11.

    Mbengue (2008) Preamble to the WTO Agreement, para. 11.

  12. 12.

    Art. III:1 WTO Agreement.

  13. 13.

    See Eliason (2019), p. 557.

  14. 14.

    See Appellate Body report, United States – Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/AB/R, 12 October 1998, para. 153.

  15. 15.

    Appellate Body report, United States – Standards for Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline, WT/DS2/AB/R, adopted 20 May 1996, p. 30.

  16. 16.

    Ibid.

  17. 17.

    Appellate Body report, United States – Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/AB/R, 12 October 1998, para. 129–131.

  18. 18.

    Ibid, para. 153 (emphasis added).

  19. 19.

    Appellate Body report, European Communities – Conditions for the Granting of Tariff Preferences to Developing Countries, WT/DS246/AB/R, adopted 1 December 2003, para. 94.

  20. 20.

    See, for instance, Panel report, China – Measures related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials, WT/DS394/R, WT/DS395/R, WT/DS398/R, adopted 22 February 2012, para. 7.374–7.375; Appellate Body report, China – Measures related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials, WT/DS394/AB/R, WT/DS395/AB/R, WT/DS398/AB/R, adopted 22 February 2012, para. 306; Panel report, China – Measures Related to the Exportation of Rare Earths, Tungsten and Molybdenum, WT/DS431/R, adopted 29 August 2014, para. 7.259–7.261.

  21. 21.

    Appellate Body report, India – Certain Measures Relating to Solar Cells and Solar Modules, WT/DS456/AB/R, adopted 14 October 2016, para. 5.72.

  22. 22.

    Van den Bossche and Zdouc (2017), p. 545.

  23. 23.

    Wu and Salzman (2014), p. 408.

  24. 24.

    See, inter alia, GATT Panel Report, United States – Restrictions on Imports of Tuna, 3 September 1991, unadopted, BISD 39S/155; GATT Panel Report, United States – Restrictions on Imports of Tuna, DS29/R, 16 June 1994, unadopted; Appellate Body report, United States – Standards for Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline, WT/DS2/AB/R, adopted 29 May 1996; Appellate Body report, United States – Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/AB/R, adopted 12 October 1998; Appellate Body report, European Communities – Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos, WT/DS135/AB/R, adopted 5 April 2001; Appellate Body report, European Communities – Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products, WT/DS401/AB/R, adopted 22 May 2014.

  25. 25.

    WTO Members can rely on environmental exceptions to pursue the WTO objectives of sustainable development and environmental protection. See Art. XX GATT, but also Art. XIV GATS, the TBT Agreement, the SPS Agreement, Art. 27.2 and 27.3 TRIPS, Art. 8 ASCM, Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture, the Decision on Trade and Environment and the Decision on Trade in Services and the Environment.

  26. 26.

    Art. XX(b) and (g) GATT. Six out of the 10 subparagraphs of Art. XX GATT may be considered for sustainability purposes: Paragraph (e) on prison labour is the only PPM example of justification for aspects that are not found back in the physical characteristics is explicitly mentioned, paragraphs (a), (b) and (g) are the classic grounds invoked for sustainability, paragraph (d) on compliance with national laws and regulation could be invoked for national labelling requirements, and paragraph (h) allows PPM measures contained in commodity agreements.

  27. 27.

    Gustafsson and Crochet (2020), p. 188.

  28. 28.

    Wu and Salzman (2014), p. 404.

  29. 29.

    See Quick (2013), p. 969; Mavroidis (2015), pp. 303–328.

  30. 30.

    PAGE (2017), p. 38.

  31. 31.

    See also Sect. 2.4.1.1 below.

  32. 32.

    See, for instance, Wu and Salzman (2014).

  33. 33.

    Kulovesi (2014), pp. 342 and 352.

  34. 34.

    Appellate Body report, United States – Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products from China, WT/DS437/AB/R, adopted 16 January 2015.

  35. 35.

    For an overview, see Vermulst and Meng (2017), pp. 348–352.

  36. 36.

    Appellate Body report, European Union – Anti-Dumping Measures on Biodiesel from Argentina, WT/DS473/AB/R, adopted 6 October 2016. The Panel in Indonesia followed this decision. See Panel report, European Union – Anti-Dumping Measures on Biodiesel from Indonesia, WT/DS480/R, adopted 25 January 2018. See also EU – Cost Adjustment Methodologies (Russia), WT/DS474 (pending).

  37. 37.

    See Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1194/2013 of 19 November 2013 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of biodiesel originating in Argentina and Indonesia, OJ 2013 L 315/2.

  38. 38.

    Appellate Body report, European Union – Anti-Dumping Measures on Biodiesel from Argentina, WT/DS473/AB/R, adopted 6 October 2016, para. 6.41.

  39. 39.

    Ibid, para. 7.2.

  40. 40.

    Request for consultations by Argentina, Peru – Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures on Biodiesel from Argentina, WT/DS572/1, 5 December 2018.

  41. 41.

    Constitution of the Panel at the request of China, United States – Safeguard Measure on Imports of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products, WT/DS562/9, 25 October 2019.

  42. 42.

    Proclamation 9693 of January 23, 2018 – To Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition from Imports of Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells (Whether or Not Partially or Fully Assembled Into Other Products) and for Other Purposes, 83 FR 3541.

  43. 43.

    Panel report, United States – Safeguard Measure on Imports of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products, WT/DS562/R, circulated 2 September 2021. See Kreier (2021).

  44. 44.

    Dawson (2020), p. 370.

  45. 45.

    Inside US Trade, Senators introduce bill to repeal Section 201 restrictions on solar products, 12 June 2018, available at https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/senators-introduce-bill-repeal-section-201-restrictions-solar-products (last accessed 24 June 2023).

  46. 46.

    Brewster et al. (2016), p. 335.

  47. 47.

    Ibid, p. 336.

  48. 48.

    See, for instance, the Chinese solar panels trade war.

  49. 49.

    PAGE is an initiative by UNEP, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO and UNITAR in cooperation with partners and external experts. See PAGE (2017), pp. 28 ff. and p. 30, Box 1.

  50. 50.

    See Art. II:2(b) GATT.

  51. 51.

    Frey (2016), p. 453; Vikhlyaev (2004), p. 101.

  52. 52.

    UNCTAD (2014); Kampel (2017); Kasteng (2013); Lester and Watson (2013); Dhanania and Chantramitra (2014).

  53. 53.

    Espa and Rolland (2015), p. 9.

  54. 54.

    UNCTAD (2014), p. 10.

  55. 55.

    Lester and Watson (2013).

  56. 56.

    Wu and Salzman (2014).

  57. 57.

    Ibid.

  58. 58.

    Espa (2019), p. 999.

  59. 59.

    Ibid, p. 981.

  60. 60.

    Cosbey et al. (2017), p. 70.

  61. 61.

    Kampel (2017). See also Sect. 4.4 below.

  62. 62.

    See Potts (2008), pp. 3 ff.

  63. 63.

    Charnovitz (1993), pp. 31–32.

  64. 64.

    Sands and Peel (2018), p. 145.

  65. 65.

    Ibid.

  66. 66.

    Fischer (2015), p. 299.

  67. 67.

    Ibid, p. 299.

  68. 68.

    Fletcher (1996), p. 361.

  69. 69.

    Trebilcock and Trachtman (2020), pp. 186 ff. See also Doelle (2004), p. 94 for two climate change concerns in trade law.

  70. 70.

    That is, with the exception of safeguards measures which respond to a sudden increase of imports which are not considered to be the consequence of an unfair trade practice.

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    Pieter Van Vaerenbergh

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Van Vaerenbergh, P. (2023). A Role for Trade Remedies in Greening International Trade?. In: Greening Trade Remedies. European Yearbook of International Economic Law(), vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38172-0_2

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