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Canada–Renewable Energy: Implications for WTO Law on Green and Not-So-Green Subsidies

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  • CHARNOVITZ, STEVE
  • FISCHER, CAROLYN

Abstract

In the first dispute on renewable energy to come to WTO dispute settlement, the domestic content requirement of Ontario's feed-in tariff was challenged as a discriminatory investment-related measure and as a prohibited import substitution subsidy. The Panel and Appellate Body agreed that Canada was violating the GATT and the TRIMS Agreement. But the SCM Article 3 claim by Japan and the European Union remains unadjudicated, because neither tribunal made a finding that the price guaranteed for electricity from renewable sources constitutes a ‘benefit’ pursuant to the SCM Agreement. Although the Appellate Body provides useful guidance to future Panels on how the existence of a benefit could be calculated, the most noteworthy aspect of the new jurisprudence is the Appellate Body's reasoning that delineating the proper market for ‘benefit’ analysis entails respect for the policy choices made by a government. Thus, in this dispute, the proper market is electricity produced only from wind and solar energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Charnovitz, Steve & Fischer, Carolyn, 2015. "Canada–Renewable Energy: Implications for WTO Law on Green and Not-So-Green Subsidies," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 177-210, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:wotrrv:v:14:y:2015:i:02:p:177-210_00
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    Cited by:

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    2. Harri Kalimo & Filip Sedefov & Max S. Jansson, 2017. "Market definition as value reconciliation: the case of renewable energy promotion under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 427-443, June.
    3. Bown, Chad & Crowley, Meredith A., 2016. "The Empirical Landscape of Trade Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 11216, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Carolyn Fischer, 2017. "Environmental Protection for Sale: Strategic Green Industrial Policy and Climate Finance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(3), pages 553-575, March.
    5. Fischer, Carolyn & Greaker, Mads & Rosendahl, Knut Einar, 2017. "Robust technology policy against emission leakage: The case of upstream subsidies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 44-61.
    6. Bougette, Patrice & Charlier, Christophe, 2015. "Renewable energy, subsidies, and the WTO: Where has the ‘green’ gone?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 407-416.
    7. Carolyn Fischer, 2016. "Strategic Subsidies for Green Goods," Working Papers 2016.30, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    8. Denis A. Lavrov & Svetlana V. Karpova & Vladimir I. Avdiyskiy & Svetlana E. Dubova & Svetlana V. Makar & Natalia A. Barmenkova & Nataliya A. Kazakova & Nikolay P. Kushchev, 2021. "Green Electricity and Heat Generation in Canada: Implications for Russia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(3), pages 280-289.
    9. Fischer, Carolyn & Greaker, Mads & Rosendahl, Knut Einar, 2018. "Strategic technology policy as a supplement to renewable energy standards," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 84-98.
    10. Kayla Stan & Graham A. Watt & Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa, 2021. "Financial stability in response to climate change in a northern temperate economy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Nelson, Douglas & Puccio, Laura, 2021. "Nihil novi sub sole: The Need for Rethinking WTO and Green Subsidies in Light of United States – Renewable Energy," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 491-508, October.
    12. Julie L. MacArthur, 2017. "Trade, Tarsands and Treaties: The Political Economy Context of Community Energy in Canada," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Ornelas, Emanuel & Puccio, Laura, 2019. "Reopening Pandora’s Box in Search of a WTO-Compatible Industrial Policy? The Brazil -Taxation Dispute," CEPR Discussion Papers 14042, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Michelle Limenta & Lili Yan Ing, 2022. "Indonesia’s Local Content Requirements: Assessment with WTO Rules," Working Papers DP-2021-47, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

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    JEL classification:

    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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