Remember "WTO reform"? Norway Ambassador Petter Ølberg on his latest consultations. Full text ⬇️ contains details of what's been discussed, eg subsidies and voting in the absence of consensus. Short preface co-authored with @bobwolfe.bsky.social tradebetablog.wordpress.com/text-olbergs...

'The new grouping, to be called the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, or “FIT-P”, is expected to include about 10 countries, with New Zealand joining Singapore and the UAE as core founding members' on.ft.com/3JCgbDe via @FT

ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: The Variable and Evolutive Nature of Due Diligence Obligations | by Joshua Paine

My two cents on the ICJ’s Climate Change Advisory Opinion now published at @ejiltalk.bsky.social ‘ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: The Variable and Evolutive Nature of Due Diligence Obligations’. www.ejiltalk.org/icj-advisory... Thanks to @dchovell.bsky.social for comments on earlier drafts.

🚨 West Cumbria Mining is suing the UK under the UK–Singapore #BIT after the High Court blocked its controversial #coal mine #Whitehaven #WoodhouseColliery. Exiting the #ECT isn’t enough, thousands of investment treaties still threaten #ClimateJustice #StopISDS

The Trump mafia and Indonesian gov have agreed to a framework for working out non-tariff trade irritants—at some point in the future. Cost to Indonesia: 19% tariffs on exports to US. www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...

Mali court deals blow to Barrick Mining in dispute over gold project - on.ft.com/4e9TMIp via @FT

Canada agrees to resume FTA talks w/ the UK nearly 18 months after Ottawa halted negotiations. Canada also agrees to ratify the UK's #CPTPP accession during a bilateral meeting ahead of the #G7 summit @chrishorseman.bsky.social covers everything you need to know👇 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇨🇦🇬🇧 borderlex.net/2025/06/16/c...

The agenda for the next meeting of the European Parliament's trade committee on 23-34 June is out - lots of juicy nuggets to get your teeth into, whether its US trade relations, Israel, or the EU's first "CTIP" agreement with South Africa www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/docume...

I have a blogpost just out with @ejiltalk.bsky.social on 'A Multilateral Instrument on ISDS Reform (MIIR): Selected Design Issues'. Thanks to Colin Brown, Taylor St John and @dchovell.bsky.social for comments on earlier drafts of the post.

Text of the EU/UK reset - common understanding Some first thoughts 1/ ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

'One early proposal from Japan, according to officials, was to link levels of investment in the US by Japanese companies with percentage-point cuts to tariffs.' Japan to hold out for better trade deal with US - on.ft.com/4dFCaUV via @FT

"Even landlocked member states are vocally supportive of the commission in pushing for a hard link” between fisheries and a veterinary deal ... a third EU diplomat said. Plans to reset UK-EU relations hit trouble over fishing rights and youth mobility - on.ft.com/4dsCQwz via @FT

USTR just posted what it described as the US-UK "Agreement in Principle" ustr.gov/sites/defaul...

'Meanwhile, financial services will be covered by talks over a bilateral investment treaty. While negotiations on that treaty were conducted in parallel with free trade talks, differences remain and so talks will continue.' www.reuters.com/world/india/...

'Parallel talks to agree a bilateral investment treaty, which would establish legal protections for investments between the UK and India, have not yet reached resolution. As a result, the deal does not include the financial services or legal services sectors.' /1 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The EU and Côte d'Ivoire launch talks on a sustainable investment facilitation pact. The European Commission wants talks to conclude next year. All the latest by me below for @borderlex.net borderlex.net/2025/05/06/e...

'Although talks on the investment treaty continue, there’s still no clear timeline for when — or if — a deal will ever be agreed.'

UK and India locked in final stages of trade talks - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Donald Trump orders speedier permits for deep-sea mineral projects - on.ft.com/42RoqRR via @FT

'Two EU officials said the CAI would not be revived as the situation had changed so much'. China to lift sanctions on MEPs in bid to revive trade deal with EU - on.ft.com/4iOiZsZ via @FT

What is feigned victimization and how is it used by fossil fuel companies to achieve capital accumulation and climate obstruction?

This story flags the UK-China BIT. But n.b. the relatively narrow ISDS clause in the treaty (covers investor-State disputes 'concerning an amount of compensation'). British Steel crisis spurs greater scrutiny of Chinese investment in UK - on.ft.com/4lKtUGK via @FT

EU could tax Big Tech if Trump trade talks fail, says von der Leyen - on.ft.com/3Yptuvc via @FT

Some important details on the tariff order Trump just signed (1/n) (read this story for all the details: insidetrade.com/daily-news/t...)

'First Quantum said on Monday it suspended an arbitration notice it had filed under a Canada-Panama bilateral free trade deal, and dropped another case filed with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration.' on.ft.com/4i00FfX via @FT

'Britain has offered to scrap or scale back its digital services tax and has discussed cutting 20 per cent tariffs on some fish and seafood products deemed by the US government as being “high”.' Keir Starmer braced for Trump tariffs as UK seeks better outcome than EU - on.ft.com/41SsWAf via @FT

Have you read the latest ICLQ issue? Excellent articles on #investmentlaw, #humanrightsatsea, #lawofneutrality and #governmentliability in tort for the #waronterror, among others. 9 of the 10 articles are #OpenAccess. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

EU looks to hit Big Tech in crackdown on US services exports - on.ft.com/41RTSAg via @FT

Donald Trump to impose 25% tariff on US auto imports - on.ft.com/42k1RpK via @FT

I am excited to announce the publication of this Academic Forum on ISDS Concept Paper, co-authored with @jpaine.bsky.social and Catharine Titi. Our paper examines the scope of UNCITRAL WGIII's mandate when reforms span procedural and substantive aspects of ISDS. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Looking forward to catching up w many colleagues at the SIEL conference in July. I'll be presenting a paper on 'Novel Forms of Investment-Related International Agreements: Moving beyond IIAs focused on Investment Protection and ISDS?'.

'The country was “not on the frontier of best practice”, the OECD said last year, citing protracted screenings of foreign investments and controls on foreign ownership of assets including natural resources. It described inward FDI as “small” for an open economy.'

Government of Canada announced that it would take action under the Investment Canada Act to protect Canadian companies from foreign investors looking to capitalize on the current economic uncertainty and weakening Canadian dollar. Modified guidelines below: ised-isde.canada.ca/site/investm...

Before people get too drawn into this, there is a significant jurisdictional obstacle here for #Sudan: #UAE made a reservation to Article IX when acceding to the #GenocideConvention. In other words, the UAE does *not* consent to #ICJ jurisdiction over Genocide Convention disputes.

Europeans move towards seizing €200bn of Russian assets - on.ft.com/41B4iUx via @FT

The International Court of Justice has elected Judge Iwasawa Yuji as President until 2027.

The Functions of International Adjudication and International Environmental Litigation by Joshua Paine Uses the focus of environmental disputes to develop a novel comparative analysis of the functions of international courts and tribunals. 📚 cup.org/42HatHC

'British officials said the two sides were aiming for a phased economic and tech agreement that stopped short of a full free trade agreement'. My guess - might only amount to a non-binding MoU.

Text of Ukraine-US minerals agreement: 'This Bilateral Agreement is binding and will be implemented by each Participant according to its domestic procedures.'

Trump Announces Inquiry That Could Lead to Tariffs on Copper www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/u...

On the IFDA 'India continued its outright opposition. South Africa and Türkiye continued to say they are still studying the proposal and are not yet ready to accept it.'

New Zealand loosens ‘golden visa’ rules to attract investors - on.ft.com/40SqGHB via @FT

I have a new piece out in World Trade Review ‘Beyond Investment Protection and ISDS: Towards an Investment Law Research Agenda Focusing on Investment Facilitation and Liberalization Commitments’ (Open Access) doi.org/10.1017/S147... I argue that the scholarly field of investment law has ... /1

I have a new piece out in World Trade Review ‘Beyond Investment Protection and ISDS: Towards an Investment Law Research Agenda Focusing on Investment Facilitation and Liberalization Commitments’ (Open Access) doi.org/10.1017/S147... I argue that the scholarly field of investment law has ... /1

'Mexico, China and Canada account for more than a third of the goods and services imported to or bought from the United States'. Trump Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China Will Take Effect on Saturday www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/b...

All you wanted to know (and probably more) about the sandeels dispute from the @houseofcommons.parliament.uk Library. Note it’s the Danes and not the dastardly frogs who are mainly concerned on the EU side. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-uk-eu-di...

Mexico and Canada forge united front in face of Donald Trump’s tariff threats - on.ft.com/42rLSq4 via @FT

Reports of the Philippines looking into filing another case against China re environmental damage in the South China Sea (I assume pursuant to UNCLOS Pt XV) theasialive.com/philippines-...

I jotted down some notes, but it's late and I'm tired and there may be typos: "Trump's Trade Policy, Day 1: Just a Memo"