Mineral export restraints and sustainable development - Are rare earths testing the WTO's loopholes?

Journal of International Economic Law

Volumn 14, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 765-805

  Gu, Bin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS   (China)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84855674471     PISSN: 13693034     EISSN: 14643758     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jiel/jgr034     Document Type: Review

References (71)

1. Relevant data concerning minerals and mineral trade borrows heavily from an OECD Report and a WTO Report. These two reports are, Jane Korinek and Jeonghoi Kim, 'Export Restrictions On Strategic Raw Materials And Their Impact On Trade And Global Supply': OECD Trade Policy Working Paper No. 95 (2009), http://www.wto.org/english/res-e/publications-e/wtr10-forum-e/wtr10-oecd2-e.pdf (visited 25 May 2011),
2. Graham A. Davis, 'Trade in Mineral Resources': Background Paper to the 2010 World Trade Report (2010), http://www.wto.org/english/res-e/reser-e/ ersd201001-e.pdf (visited 25 May 2011).
3. Roberta Piermartini, 'The Role of Export Taxes in the Field of Primary Commodities', http:// www.wto.org/english/res-e/booksp-e/discussion-papers4-e. pdf (visited 25 May 2011), at 2. See also Korinek and Kim, above n 2, at 6.
4. Dani Rodrik, 'Globalization, Trade and Developing Countries', in Gary P. Sampson (ed.), The WTO and Global Governance: Future Directions (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2008), at 202.
5. The Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM), 'Ten Rare Metals Are Put into Consideration for Strategic Stockpiles', http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/o/ dh/201011/ 20101107226067.html (visited 11 December 2010).
6. Supachai Panitchpakdi, 'The WTO, Global Governance and Development', in Gary P. Sampson (ed.), The WTO and Global Governance: Future Directions (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2008), at 190.
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8. Marian Radetzki, A Handbook of Primary Commodities in the Global Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), at 12-15.
9. Peter B. Mandelson, 'The Challenge of Raw Materials', http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/ 2008/october/tradoc-140944.pdf (visited 16 December 2010).
10. OECD, 'Steelmaking Raw Materials: Market and Policy Developments', http://www.oecd.org/ dataoecd/49/4/46591723.pdf (visited 16 December 2010).
11. Another version of rare earths' world distribution is approximately 99 million tonnes, among which 36% is in China, 19% in CIS, 13% in the USA, 5% in Australia, 0.05% in Brazil, and 22% in other countries. http://www.cs-re.org.cn/ modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=320 (visited 16 December 2010).
12. According to MOFCOM, between January and September 2010, China exported rare earths 32,200 tonnes, with 16,000 tonnes (49.8%) to Japan, and 6200 tonnes (19%) to the USA. http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/ae/ah/201011/20101107247803. html (visited 26 May 2011).
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25. Businessweek, 'China Denies Japan Rare Earth Ban amid Diplomatic Row', http://www.busi nessweek.com/news/2010-09-23/china-denies-japan-rare-earth-ban- amid-diplomatic-row.html (visited 26 May 2011).
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28. The New York Times, 'Rare Earths', http://topics.nytimes.com/top/ reference/timestopics/subjects/r/rare-earths/index.html?scp=2&sq= mountain%20pass&st=cse (visited 26 May 2011).
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30. MOFCOM, 'Catalogue of Foreign Investment Industries 2007', http://www.fdi.gov.cn/pub/FDI/tzdt/dt/t20071108-86923.htm?fclose=1 (visited 26 May 2011).
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32. Claude Barfield, 'Trade and Raw Materials-Looking Ahead', http://www.aei.org/speech/28745 (visited 13 December 2010).
33. Raj Bhala, International Trade Law: Interdisciplinary Theory and Practice, 3rd ed. (Dayton, OH: LexisNexis, 2008), at 606.
34. William A. Root et al., United States Export Controls, 5th ed. (The Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer, 2010), at chapter 4.1.
35. Canada Export and Import Permits Act, Section 3, the Export Control List (ECL), Table I. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/E-19/237065.html (visited 26 March 2011).
36. Michel Kostecki, Export-Restraint Arrangements and Trade Liberalization, 10 The World Economy 425 (1987), at 426.
37. Robert E. Hudec, Developing Countries in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Legal System (United Kingdom: Gower Publishing Company, 1987), at 76.
38. see Michael William Lochmann, 'The Japanese Voluntary Restraint On Automobile Exports: An Abandonment Of The Free Trade Principles Of The GATTand the Free Market Principles of United States Antitrust Laws', 27 Harvard International Law Journal 99 (1986).
39. See Eric C. Emerson, 'Voluntary Restraint Agreements and Democratic Decision Making', 31 Virginia Journal of International Law 281 (1991).
40. John H. Jackson et al., Legal Problems of International Economic Relations, 5th ed. (New York: Thomson/West, 2008), at 691.
41. Ironically, yellow phosphorus fall subjects of the EU's WTO suit against China's export restraints in 2009. http://www.mlr.gov.cn/tdzt/kcgl/xtzz/mtzs/ 201008/t20100812-738669.htm (visited 16 December 2010).
42. According to Professor Robert Hudec's philosophy, a legal institution governing international trade would have to be sensitive to political and diplomatic considerations-even allowing them to supersede its authority in some circumstances-to avoid becoming so inflexible as to render itself harmful or irrelevant. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res= 9C0DE7DD1239F932A05750C0A9659C8B63 (visited 27 May 2011).
43. Pascal Lamy, 'The WTO's Contribution to Global Governance', in Sampson, above n 14, at 42.
44. Paulos Milkias, Developing the Global South (New York: Algora Publishing, 2010), at 136-37.
45. Mercantilist, manifested by the GATT's own doctrine, is widely accepted by political and business circles, though mercantilist economics is thoroughly discredited as bad economics among professional economists, who instead promote the theory of comparative advantage. Hudec, above n 76, at 142-44.
46. Financial Times, 'Rare Earths', http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3/f4b0d922-cada- 11df-bf36-00144feab49a.html#axzz18WSFiKlg (visited 27 May 2011).
47. MOFCOM, 'Regular Press Conference' (16 November 2010), http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/ aarticle/ae/ah/201011/20101107247803.html (visited 27 May 2011).
48. China Daily, 'China Mulls Plans to Curb Rare Earth Smuggling' (14 September 2009), http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-09/14/content- 8690293.htm (visited 27 May 2011).
49. WTO Secretariat, World Trade Policy Review: China (2006), WT/TPR/S/161, at 102.
50. Matthew R. Nicely, 'Counteracting Distortive Export Tax and VAT Rebate Policies at the WTO: a Downstream Industry Perspective', http://trade.ec.europa. eu/doclib/docs/2008/october/tradoc-140944.pdf (visited 16 December 2010).
51. Robert W. Staiger and Alan O. Sykes, ' ''Currency Manipulation'' and World Trade', 9 (4) World Trade Review 583 (2010), at 610.
52. See http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/ae/ai/201012/20101207325758.html (visited 27 May 2011).
53. Panel Report, US - Export Restraints, above n 164, para 8.63.
54. Debra P. Steger, 'The Culture of the WTO: Why It Needs to Change', in William J. Davey and John Jackson (eds), The Future of International Economic Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), at 45.
55. For example, governments could impose overseas sales' duties so high that they constitute, in effect, an export ban. Argentina, for example, used very high taxes for exports in 2008 to de facto stop overseas sales of the cereal. Financial Times, 'Impact of Export Restrictions More Serious than First Thought', http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/60406262-f636-11df-a313-00144feab49a. html#axzz19p51y5zV (visited 27 May 2011).
56. WTO Secretariat, World Trade Policy Review: China (2010), WT/TPR/S230/Rev.1, para 76.
57. According to the most recent 'WTO Trade Policy Review on China' (2010), statutory export taxes applied to 95 tariff lines, while global export quotas applied to 173 lines in 2009. These numbers were 88 and 146, respectively in 2007. WTO Secretariat, above n 177, paras 76, 84, and WTO Secretariat, World Trade Policy Review: China (2008), WT/TPR/S199/Rev.1, paras 112, 124.
58. According to Professor Trachtman, there is little reason to protect the right to regulate through de jure quotas. Joel P. Trachtman, 'The WTO and Development Policy in China and India', in Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah and Jiangyu Wang (eds), China, India and the International Economic Order (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), at 43.
59. As for comprehensive analysis of China's overloaded obligation under the WTO, see Julia Ya Qin, 'The Challenges of Interpreting ''WTO-PLUS'' Provisions', 44(1) Journal of World Trade 127 (2010), at 127-72.
60. Peter Drahos, 'Global Property Rights in Information: The Story of TRIPS at the GATT', 13 PROMETHEUS 6 (1995) at 11-15.
61. Carlos M. Correa, 'Can the TRIPS Agreement Foster Technology Transfer to Developing Countries?' in Keith E. Maskus and Jerome H. Reichman (eds), International Public Goods and Transfer of Technology under a Globalized Intellectual Property Regime (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2005), at 229.
62. John B. Bellinger III and Nicholas L. Townsend, 'Inside ''the CFIUS'': US National Security Review of Foreign Investments', 6 Global Trade & Customs Journal 1 (2011).
63. Kevin Davis, 'Obligation Overload: Adjusting the Obligations of Failed or Fragile States' (International Law Workshop Paper, Harvard Law School, 8 September 2010), at 1.
64. See both preambles to Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO and to the GATT 1947. WTO, The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, the Legal Texts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), at 4, 424.
65. Daniel C. Esty, 'Governing at The Trade-environment Interface', in Gary P. Sampson (ed.), The WTO and Global Governance: Future Directions (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2008), at 122.
66. Chen Deming, 'Bashing China Isn't Going to Solve the World's Debt Crisis', http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8867884/Bashing- China-isnt-going-to-solve-the-worlds-debt-crisis.html (visited 7 November 2011).
67. L. S. Stavrianos, Global Rift (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1981), at 38.
68. They were the USA, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan. Justin Yifu Lin, 'China's Economic Development and Cultural Renaissance in the Multi-polar Growth World of the 21st Century', http://en.nsd.edu.cn/article.asp? articleid=7183 (visited 7 November 2011).
69. Pascal Lamy, 'The WTO's Contribution to Global Governance', in Gary P. Sampson (ed.), The WTO and Global Governance: Future Directions (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2008), at 40.
70. The G-20 Summit, created as a response to the ongoing financial crisis, in its 2011 Gannes meeting, explicitly asked the WTO to monitor new export restrictions and to report publicly on a semi-annual basis. G-20, 'Gannes Summit Final Declaration', http://www.g20.org/Documents2011/11/ Cannes%20Declaration%204%20November%202011.pdf (visited 7 November 2011), at 13.
71. Pascal Lamy, 'The Future of the World Trading System', http://wto.org/english/news-e/sppl-e/sppl209-e.htm(visited 18 October 2011).