• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.41-62
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• 2023

Purpose - This paper examines whether the imposition of countervailing duties by the United States on undervalued foreign currency is legally consistent with the WTO's SCM Agreement. Design/methodology - The study uses a methodology that involves analyzing relevant WTO agreements, prior panel reports, Appellate Body decisions, and other legal documents. Findings - The findings suggest that to impose countervailing duties, certain legal requirements must be met, including financial contribution, benefit, and specificity. The paper also notes that when calculating the benefits of undervalued foreign currency, losses from import activities due to currency undervaluation must be considered. Additionally, classifying all exports to the US under specific industries or business groups is likely to be inconsistent with the SCM Agreement. Originality/value - Even the US countervailing measures on exchange rate subsidies may not comply with WTO regulations due to incorrect calculation of benefits and a lack of specificity, however, it suggests that when intervening in the foreign exchange market, the measures should aim to achieve only minimum policy goals.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-53
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• 2013

Technology research and development (R&D) expenditures have increased as most countries recognize that technological innovation is a significant factor for continued economic growth. R&D subsidies by governmental entities were permitted in accordance with the Subsidy and Countervailing Measure (SCM) Agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO) system. However, according to Article 31 of the SCM Agreement the provision for R&D subsidies have been terminated as of January 2000 and legal disputes over R&D subsidies are likely to increase. The aircraft industry has been the only industry where R&D subsidies have become an issue under the WTO. This paper examines international trade disputes within the aircraft industry in regards to measures by Canada and bilateral disputes between the U.S. and the European Communities (EC). In these cases, various R&D subsidies on civil aircraft are found to be inconsistent with WTO rules. This study summarizes the WTO decisions on various R&D subsidies disputed in the aircraft cases and examines the type of R&D subsidies found to be inconsistent (or consistent) with the WTO to provide guidelines for current and future R&D subsidy policies in high-tech industries. The Canada-Aircraft case indicates that R&D subsidies directly targeted towards near market R&D projects with a high export potential will likely be in violation of current WTO rules. Furthermore, findings from the EC-Aircraft and the U.S.-Aircraft cases suggest that the forms (or the methods) of R&D subsidy distribution were not a sufficient condition for the WTO ruling; instead, what ultimately mattered was whether and specifically to whom the benefits of the R&D subsidies are conferred by the government entities.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.11a
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• pp.202-202
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• 2017

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.111-130
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• 2018

In December 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted to cope with global warming caused by greenhouse gas emission and to prevent the average temperature of the Earth from rising. Renewable energy sources have become important to address environmental problems such as rising sea levels, depletion of forests and fine dust. In order to grow renewable energy, government support is needed. However, excessive government support for the renewable energy industry could pose problems that include undermining fair competition and raising costs. The WTO already has heard cases involving renewable energy subsidies. This article focuses on subsidies and countervailing tariffs as well as examines WTO disputes related to renewable subsidies, and also analyze legal issues that are problematic in granting subsidies for the development of new renewable energy industries. In WTO dispute involving renewable energy subsidies, legal issues are SCM Agreement article 2 Specificity, article 3 (b) import substitution subsidy and GATT article 20. This paper proposes improvement measures such as the reintroduction of article 8 Non-Actionable Subsidies or special provisions on energy subsidy. In addition, it is necessary to clarify the interpretation of Article 3 of the subsidy agreement. However, excessive government subsidies can lead to trade friction, so the WTO rules should be improved in line with the WTO goals of environmental protection, equity in free trade, and sustainable development.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.83-95
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• 2019

In order to promote the domestic aircraft manufacturing industry, this study analyzed the limitations of the preceding study on the WTO dispute concerning civil aircraft by summarizing the latest developments and issues in the mid-range aircraft dispute between Brazil and Canada and the large civil aircraft dispute between the United States and the EU. Based on the results of the study, we should look closely at WTO regulations and existing cases of disputes to find maximum support measures, and we believe that in order to stimulate the domestic aircraft manufacturing industry, we should refrain from publicly specifying support measures in the data, such as laws and policies, utilize the WTO SCM Agreement exceptions, and strengthen links with international cooperation and other industries.