I.

The SITE Japan Wood Case belongs to a three-part series of events, organized around foreign student visits to American University. Each part in the series, is comprised of a two-hour session that introduces students to a basic simulation concept, including how a simulation is formatted, and how one can be evaluated.

DAY ONE,will consist of a lecture on trade and environment issues, especially the role of culture in these issues. The session includes an introduction to the simulation.

On DAY TWO, The Simulation begins and the court arguments are made.

On DAY THREE, the Simulation will end and there will be an evaluation of what happened and why.

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II.

The United States has often used unilateral trade measures to achieve policy objectives, and has often done so with respect to environmental issues. For example, the United States recently held up development aid to Thailand for environmental reasons (as well as political reasons). Despite other evidence, the U.S. certified that "Thailand has effectively sealed its border with Cambodia and shut down a massive clandestine logging traffic that has denuded Cambodian forests." Our scenario presumes the opposite: here, the United States is the country being threatened by Japanese unilateral environmental policies.

In this case, Japan proposes unilateral environmental restrictions, carried out through trade sanctions; in the form of an added tax on U.S. wood and wood product imports, against the United States. The increased tax is structured in a way that it only applies to certain woods found in the Pacific Northwest section of the United States. Japan believes that the United States is guilty of deforesting the few remaining old growth forests in the continental United States, especially due to its exports to Japan.

In the process, the deforestation is also kiling species in the old growth forest such as the spotted owl. This is in violation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Moreover, deforestation and disruption of the habitat make trees more susceptible to infestation and disease. Since the Pacific Northwest is also the primary area for producing apples, Japan wants to ensure that they do not carry harmful diseases or insects that could possibly find their way into Japanese agricultural areas.
See APPLE CASE

For many years, Japan has expressed concern over the logging practices of the United States. Japanese fears that the United States was over-logging certain areas in the Northwest culminated in the fall of 2000. Concerned with both the effect on the environment and the hypocritical U.S.unilateral policies on logging toward other nations, Japan placed a ban on imports of U.S. finished wood products if the wood was not grown sustainably. The United States responded that Japan's decision was a curious coincidence, as Japan's government had been under pressure from domestic suppliers, who are few, over-competition from cheaper, and increasing, U.S. imports. Japan has also been importing wood from Russia and, for political reasons, wants to expand this relationship. In part, this desire is related to solving the "islands" dispute between Japan and Russia.

[For nearly 400 case studies on trade and environment, go to the following Web address for the Trade Environment Database. The "HAWKSBIL" case is an earlier trade and environment case between the United States and Japan.]

The simulation context is the Dispute Settlement Committee (DSC) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States has brought the dispute before the DSC, charging that Japan has erected an unfair trade measure. The DSC will have three voting judges, with one appointed as the Chair of the DSC. Their vote will decide the case. The United States and Japan will each have teams to represent their positions before the DSC. Each country will alsobe composed of sub-teams: one addressing the environment issue/impact, one addressing the trade issue/impact. Each sub-team will be composed of three members, totaling six members on each team. The remaining three students will represent the "the media" and discuss the case with the teams as events unfold,and provide an objective view of the proceedings. They will make a report at the end of the simulation.

IV. The Schedule: Upon convening the DSC, a first round will begin with the United States, as the claimant, given a total of 15 minutes to present its case against the Japanese ban. The cases will be divided into two parts: at least 5 minutes for the Environment Team; at least 5 for the Trade Team. Then, Japan will be given 15 minutes to present its argument for imposing the ban: at least 5 for the Environment Team; at least 5 for the Trade Team. Teams will have 15 minutes to prepare these opening remarks.

The second round is an open forum of 20 minutes. Each team will work, as a whole,to prepare for the next round, in which they will present a summary statement. They may also negotiate with the other team. If a settlement can be found bilaterally, then the one side could conceivably remove its charges. [For specifics on the charges and import tax, see the New Report, attached.] In the third round, the Japanese and United States teams, as a whole, will present a final summary statement, or concluding remarks, summarizing their individual positions. Then, the justices will have 10 minutes to privately discuss the presentations and reach a decision. They will have up to 5 minutes to explain their decisions and allow for comments from Japan and the U.S. sides. The remaining 30-35 minutes will be taken to debrief the participants, engaging in discussion ofthe quality of the experience and the reality of the situation and environment, as well as any other comments or concerns. The media will also make its reports on what happened behind the scenes in the case.

• Hour 0: Simulation Begins Round One: The Basic Issues 0-15 minutes: Team preparations16-45 minutes:US (15 minutes)
• 1.Environment Ministry
• 2.Trade Ministry Japan
  (15 minutes)

• Internal Dynamics 46-60 minutes:

• Final Arguments and Verdict 61-75 minutes:
• Final Statements by eachside, offered by one representative from each side.76-90 minutes: DSC ruling and country comments.

• Debriefing 91-120: Debriefing and Media Report

News Report: The Japanese Ministry of Trade announced retaliatory sanctions against the United States for unsustainable forestry practices. The sanctions impose import tariffs on the United States for relaxed environmental regulations, which violate Agenda 21 of the Rio Environmental Summit. The measure would impose a 10 percent import fee on U.S. old-growth hard wood products entering Japan. This fee is the calculated amount that prices would rise if the U.S.were using proper environmental policies, i.e. sustainable growth.The sanctions are particularly targeted towards the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon and California. The state of California; an area with the 6th largest GNP in the world, has threatened to retaliate.

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