By Brian Kesten

The Netherlands’ Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis’s World Trade Monitor reported Thursday that the value of goods traded internationally fell by nearly 14% in 2015. The drop in trade value marks the first time since the 2009 financial crisis that international trade value suffered a contraction. Under the circumstances, the International Monetary Fund has advised G20 members that global growth in 2016 may not meet expectations.

China’s exporting woes are perhaps most responsible, while currency crises across the globe have also contributed. These factors combined in Brazil, where the Brazilian real has declined in value, and Chinese imports to Brazil declined 60% in January 2016 compared to January 2015.

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March 04, 2016

By Catherine Kent

  

In 2002, Brazil received a favorable judgment before the World Trade Organization on the claim that the United States’s cotton subsidies violate WTO principles of fair trade by placing downward pressure on the world price. Brazil resolved to waive sanctions on the U.S. and instead receive yearly payments. The U.S. has responded by continuing its violations, and to use even more U.S. taxpayer money to do so. So what’s the problem? Aside from these harmful international effects, the cotton subsidies are part of a farm bill that take up a large amount of U.S. taxpayer dollars that could arguably be used more effectively elsewhere; the temporary deal that President Obama struck with Brazil in the beginning of October cost $300 million. Rather than reform the practice of subsidizing cotton farmers that benefits so few at the expense of so many, the U.S. would sooner pay MORE to continue this practice. 

U.S. cotton subsidies, created as part of a temporary form of relief for farmers during the Great Depression, have far surpassed their intended function. It has essentially become a permanent law, and the well-meaning subsidies that once made sense as necessary aid have morphed into a massive spending bill that drains billions of taxpayer dollars into the farming industry. Since the 1930’s, cotton subsidies have been steadily increasing as part of the farm bill, in the form of federally subsidized farmers’ insurance to protect farmers against the loss of crop or income. These subsidies have allowed the U.S. cotton market to distort the international cotton trade and harm the naturally alive cotton industries of other nations.

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October 28, 2014

Kristen McCannon

In Foreign Policy, David J. Rothkopf has directed the world’s attention to an incredible candidate in Brazil’s presidential race. Marina Silva has stunned seasoned political observers in the past month as her popularity has skyrocketed. Ms. Silva’s personal life story – the mixed race child of impoverished parents becoming the first in her family to read and later rising to prominence as a champion of the Amazon rainforest – has resonated in a country that celebrates its diverse heritages and landscapes. However, whether Ms. Silva can change environmental or developmental law from the presidential palace is yet to be determined.  The first round of Brazil’s presidential elections will take place on October 5^th.

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September 29, 2014

By Matt Klinger

To prevent surveillance by the National Security Agency (N.S.A), some large companies with customers outside the U.S. are offering to store their client's data entirely abroad.  

Microsoft, for instance, recently indicated it would give customers some choice about where their data is stored.  Similarly, a Dutch telecom operator plans to set up servers in the Netherlands so that its encrypted data never leaves the country, while an alliance of German phone and internet operators have discussed doing a similar thing.  Going even a step further, Brazil has considered legislation that would force companies like Facebook to store data on Brazilian users inside the country.  And some European Union (E.U.) officials support requiring E.U. citizens' data to be stored within the union's borders.

But how effective are such measures likely to be?  Not very, according to some analysts, including a retired deputy director of the N.S.A.  It seems foreign countries that want to protect their citizens' data will have to benefit from legal reforms, such as changes to U.S. law or the adoption of a binding international instrument.  But such measures are unlikely to take effect soon, if at all.

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March 03, 2014

By Matt Klinger

"The first major statement by the UN on privacy in 25 years" appeared last month when the General Assembly's committee on humanitarian issues unanimously approved a resolution on "the right to privacy in the digital age."  

Brazil and Germany, which recently learned the U.S. National Security Agency had intercepted the communications of their top leaders, sponsored the non-binding measure.  The resolution calls on member states to review their legislation and practices regarding communications surveillance with an eye toward upholding the right to privacy.  The resolution also calls for a U.N. report on the protection and promotion of privacy in the context of "domestic and extraterritorial surveillance . . . including on a mass scale."  

The committee's consensus approval indicates the resolution will easily pass in the General Assembly when it comes up for a vote this December. 

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December 03, 2013

By Min Wu 

During the opening of the 68th United Nations General Assembly, Brazilian President Dilma Roussef sent a warning to the United States over its state espionage activities. According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, Brazilian citizens, companies, and government were the target of US intelligence services.

As Intellectual Property Watch reported, Roussef called the actions “a breach of international law,” and said that the right to safety of citizens of one country cannot override the fundamental human rights of citizens of another country. Roussef called for United Nation actions to regulate the conduct of states with regard to Internet technology.


Read more at Intellectual Property Watch.

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September 27, 2013