Referencing style: You must follow the Oxford OSCOLA Standard of Citations, as this is a law module. That means that you should use footnotes to cite case-law, legislations, books/articles, as well as other primary and secondary sources.For further guidance on citation style, see:
http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/published/OSCOLA_4th_edn_Hart_2012QuickReferenceGuide.pdf
https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/oscola/tutorial/index.html
Please refer to the module handbook for further instructions.
Answer one of the following three questions:
Question 1
Maryland accessed to the WTO in 2001. As part of its long-term national industrial strategy, the government decided to build an industrial park specializing in the production of tablet computers. To give effect to its industrial strategy, the government of Maryland introduced quantitative restriction in the form of quotas on imported tablet computers, laptops and smart phones, so as to protect its local manufactures of tablet computers from international competition.
Following a complaint by other trading partners before the WTO, Maryland abolished the quantitative restrictions on the importation of laptops and smart phones, but maintained quantitative restrictions for the importation of tablet computers.
As part of a programme of regulatory reform, Maryland started to apply the following trade restrictions:
• ad valorem customs duties of 10 per cent on smart phones
• ad valorem customs duties 30 per cent on laptop computers
• the import of laptops and tablet computers had to take place in the port of Lumier, in the south of Maryland.
• A customs handling fee of 0.5 per cent is applicable, with the view of supporting local environmental projects.
Maryland has exempted from internal taxation measures:
• Smart phones imported from South Korea
• Laptops that meet the Energy Star energy-efficiency standards
• Laptops with fewer assembly parts which makes it easier for them to be recycled.
According to its national legislation, the following restrictions are applied to both imported and domestic tablettablets:
• A minimum sales price requirement
• As part of its anti-crime legislation, tablet computers cannot be used in public spaces after 10pm.
Furthermore, national law required the government bodies to buy tablet computersfrom domestic manufacturers only.
Despite the trade restrictive measures introduced by Maryland, the national manufacturersare still unable to compete with foreign manufacturers of tablet computers who maintain 80% share of the domestic market. The domestic manufactures then start to lobby the government of Maryland to impose the following measures:
• Impose anti-dumping duties on three of the main exporters of tablet computers to Maryland
• Impose counter-veiling duties on tablet computers from South Korea, whose government is suspected to be subsidizingits local manufacturers
An eminent international trade lawyer, you are asked to give legal advice to the government of Maryland on the legality of the above-mentioned measures under international trade law.