The WTO Law of Subsidies: A Comprehensive Approach

The WTO Law of Subsidies provides a comprehensive analysis of the law of subsidies under the WTO regime. Subsidies are arguably the dominant theme in International Economic Law and a prolific case law has been elaborated by WTO Panels and Appellate Body in response to the multitude of complaints lodged in the past two decades (Softwood Lumber, Airbus, Boeing, etc.). The case law and norms disciplining subsidies under the WTO legal regime are of utmost importance first for international trade ministries, parliaments, and international institutions (OECD, CNUCED, FAO, etc.). However, non-governmental organizations (World Wide Fund, etc.) are also directly concerned by this topic regarding, for example, fisheries subsidies and their impact on overexploitation of marine resources. The private sector (fishing fleets, fishermen, extractive industries, etc.) is also affected by this topic particularly regarding future investments.

Unfortunately, it is possible to be overwhelmed by the complexity of this case law. Going through this complexity, this book offers highly strategic information to both complaining and defending parties on how to advance legally their interests. Actually, one of the major characteristics of this book is to address all legal subtleties without ever trying to avoid them.

What’s in this book:

This book is structured into three Parts, as follows:
• Part I adopts the perspective of a WTO member seeking to counter an alleged subsidy granted by another Member. To this end, this Part scans all WTO Agreements containing cumulative disciplines and remedies relating to the granting of subsidies. Therefore, not only the SCM Agreement, but also the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), GATT 1994, and even the 1980 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft (ATCA) are scanned and analyzed in detail.
• Part II adopts the perspective of a WTO Member accused of granting subsidies violating subsidies disciplines. To this end, an original classification is offered of the various strategies that can be used by such a Member. For this purpose, a distinction is made between the “threshold strategy” where the existence of a challengeable subsidy is recused from the outset by the accused Member, the “denying violation of disciplines strategy,” the “exemption or exception strategy,” the “procedural and evidentiary strategy,” and finally the “implementing strategy.”
• Part III of this book, which could turn out to be the most useful for the community of agents concerned by subsidies, offers an original examination of pending legal issues. To this end, a relevant distinction is established between pending legal issues partially answered by present case law and pending legal issues not still answered by present case law.
How this will help you:

As the title of this book indicates, one of its notable aspects is that it is “comprehensive.” First, it avoids unnecessary legal jargon, making it accessible to a large public. Second, it adopts a progressive approach where legal subtleties are not avoided but presented at the right moment and the right place, thereby not overwhelming the reader. This peerless book is thus a source of strategic knowledge for practitioners, academics, students, policy makers in governments and international organizations. Law firms involved in subsidies cases are naturally at the forefront of the community of agents concerned by this topic.