International Organizations

On November 10, 2003 the World Trade Organization Appellate Body issued its report in the complaint brought by Brazil, China, the European Communities, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland against the US imposition of safeguard measures on certain steel products. [1] The Appellate Body upheld a prior Panel ruling that the US measures were inconsistent with the WTO Safeguards Agreement and GATT 1994. [2] Consequently the Appellate Body recommended that the WTO Dispute Settlement Body request the US to bring its measures into conformity. [3] [4]

           On September 24, 2003, members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China urged a U.S. trade official to consider challenging China's fixed currency exchange rate at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Rep. James A. Leach (R-Iowa), chairman of the Commission, put forward the idea that China's currency could be "a subsidies issue under the WTO, so it's not exactly a non-WTO issue." [1]

 

On June 4, 2003, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) issued an arrest warrant against Charles Taylor, the incumbent President of Liberia. When the warrant was issued, Mr. Taylor was traveling to Ghana for talks with Liberian rebel groups to end a four-year civil war that has destabilized West Africa.

 

Introduction