Issue No. 682, 1-15 February 2019
Towards fairness in WTO dispute settlement reform

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Dispute panels, AB must abide by principles of natural justice
Chakravarthi Raghavan sets out proposals for reform of a WTO dispute settlement system that has been the subject of concerns raised by developing countries and, more recently, the US.

South reject moves to curtail policy space to pursue industrialization
Faultlines around the issue of WTO reforms were evident at a recent meeting of trade ministers, with developing-country participants opposing reform proposals seen as eroding their policy space and calling instead for a more inclusive and development-oriented trading system.
by D. Ravi Kanth

Trump steps up pressure on South to forgo S&DT
As part of the US push to restrict flexibilities accorded to developing countries in the WTO rules, Washington’s top trade official had written to his developing-country counterparts urging them to forgo such treatment.
by D. Ravi Kanth

China lambasts US at WTO over Huawei ban
China has raised the issue of US trade restrictions against Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei at the WTO, criticizing what it said was an unjustified recourse to the WTO rules’ security exceptions.
by Kanaga Raja

UK austerity policies causing great pain and misery
The UK government’s austerity policies, which have led to sustained and widespread cuts in social support, “amount to retrogressive measures in clear violation of the country’s human rights obligations”, a UN rights expert has said.
by Kanaga Raja

Opinion: Finance’s new avatar
Finance has now come to overshadow, dominate – and destabilize – the productive economy, write Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Michael Lim Mah Hui.

Opinion: Despite its new rhetoric, the IMF still promotes failed policies
Research and rhetoric on inequality aside, the IMF continues, through its loan programmes, to impose ruinous policies that hurt the majority.
by Lara Merling