Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T02:32:06.522Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

‘Optimal’ Retaliation in the WTO – a commentary on the Upland Cotton Arbitration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Gene M. Grossman
Affiliation:
Princeton University
Alan O. Sykes
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Henrik Horn
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Stockholm
Petros C. Mavroidis
Affiliation:
Columbia Law School, New York
Get access

Summary

Abstract: The Upland Cotton case raises a range of interesting issues regarding the rationale for retaliation in the WTO system and the proper approach to its calibration. These include: Should the approach to retaliation differ in cases involving prohibited or actionable subsidies? When should cross-retaliation be allowed? Should retaliation be based only on the harm to the complaining nation, or to other nations as well? And, most importantly, what economic content can be given to the standard of countermeasures ‘equivalent to the level of nullification or impairment’? We address these and other issues from both a legal and economic perspective, with particular attention to the question of what level of retaliation will restore the lost welfare of the complaining nation.

The United States is a leading producer and exporter of cotton. Its market share in world cotton trade has averaged 37% since the year 2000, and some 70% of US production on average has been exported. The US cotton industry has also long been the beneficiary of various forms of government support, averaging some $3.55 billion per year since 2000, as compared with average annual cotton output in the United States of $4.26 billion. These statistics alone suggest that US government programs for cotton production have had a sizeable impact on the competitive position of US cotton growers.

In 2002, Brazil requested consultations with the United States regarding various US government programs benefiting producers of upland cotton.

Type
Chapter
Information
The WTO Case Law of 2009
Legal and Economic Analysis
, pp. 133 - 164
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×