Author Archives: Stuart Malawer

2016 Iranian Hostage Exchange for $1.7b and President Carter’s 1980 Hostage Accords — Diplomatically & Legally Correct — Maybe, But are They Good Precedent Today?      The transfer of $1.7 billion dollars to Iran to secure the release of the Hostages this month coincided with … Continue reading →

          Now that the new Iranian – U.S. agreements are being implemented, that resulted in the freeing of US hostages by Iran as well as settlement of various financial issues, it is instructive to look back at the President Carter’s Iranian Hostage Accords of … Continue reading →

                                     Legal proceedings continue to be a critical aspect of global trade relations. The Supreme Court, NAFTA panels, and WTO dispute resolution system have all seen new activity the first few weeks of the new year. … Continue reading →

      The U.S. brought two cases against China in the WTO in 2015. One involves China’s VAT tax and its exclusion of domestically-produced aircraft and the other export subsidies for goods produced in special zones. China brought no cases against … Continue reading →

   Finally, the Congress and President enacted legislation that will eventually compensate the U.S. diplomatic and military personnel held hostage for 444 days in Teheran in 1979. This has now  ended a disgraceful period of American diplomatic history. It evidences the … Continue reading →

                                Various historical and semi-historical trade developments have emerged in a geopolitical context recently. They include among other, US oil export ban, new ITA tariff reductions, the Paris Climate Agreement, Cuban-US compensation discussions, global tax and global corruption. Here are … Continue reading →

                              First, a quick review of some salient aspects of Chapter 28 (Dispute Settlement) and Chapter 9 (Investment) of the TPP.  The Dispute Settlement procedures between states for trade disputes (Chapter 28) is separate from the Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism (Chapter … Continue reading →

                            The biggest development the last three weeks or so in global trade relations was the start of the battle by the Obama administration to get TPP through Congress. This proposed agreement includes new rules for dispute resolution … Continue reading →