International economic law and policy blog

Latest — 18 Dec 2025

The U.S. Argument for Limiting MFN

In the communication to the WTO that I mentioned in the last post, the U.S. put forward a critique of the MFN principle: Most Favored Nation (MFN) Principle 3.1. The MFN principle, which seeks to prevent discriminatory trade practices and promote equal treatment among trade partners, was designed

Some Thoughts on Addressing Non-Market Policies and Practices through WTO Disputes

Earlier this week, the U.S. submitted a communication to the WTO entitled "On WTO Reform." There are a number of issues worth talking about in the document, but I want to highlight the sub-section on "Overcapacity and Overconcentration of Production."

Pennsylvania Court Finds Mexican Government Guilty of "Discrimination" Due To Its Subsidies

I'm always interested in how courts apply the concept of "discrimination" in the context of international trade, so I've been eagerly awaiting a Pennsylvania court decision in a case against Mexico.

Jamieson Greer on the Rules-Based International Order

At an Atlantic Council event yesterday, Greg Ip of the WSJ asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about how he sees the "rules-based international order" in the trading system these days

Who Will be the MC (Master of Ceremony) of MC14?

1. The 2026 Version of the Bicycle Theory for Trade A few decades back, in separate publications, Fred C. Bergsten, and Jagdish Bhagwati referred to the “bicycle” theory of trade. In short, the idea was that steady (continuous) progress towards freer trade is essential. If not, political forces favoring protectionism

A New Central Organizing Principle for U.S. Trade

In the US Trade Regime class I teach with Matt Nicely, our unit on the regime’s import side has traditionally begun with a review of how the United States classifies trading partners … the “ordinary,” “preferred” and “rogue” categories associated with columns 1a, 1b and 2 (respectively) of the Harmonized

Three Explanations for the Foreign Investment Pledges

In recent months, President Trump and the Trump administration have been touting a $20 trillion or so figure that they say foreign companies/governments have pledged to invest in the U.S. I've had trouble figuring out what to make of all this, but I have three theories

Economic Security in Trade Agreements: My Response to Geoff Gertz

Thanks to Geoff for laying out his vision of why economic security should be in trade agreements and how to bring it in. It won't surprise anyone to hear I have some additional comments and questions in response!

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part II

This is a guest post from Geoffrey Gertz of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), responding to my post on Economic and National Security Provisions in U.S. Trade Agreements An earlier post made the case for why the United States should bring economic security commitments into trade

Tiptoeing into the Polycene:[1] Launch of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade

On November 7, during the Belém Climate Summit, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil launched the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT). The IFCCT is a recognition of the need to integrate trade policy and climate policy. It is a “space for dialog” intended to “bring