International economic law and policy blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Impasse at the WTO on investment facilitation—the way forward

Guest Post by Karl P. Sauvant and Rajesh Aggarwal · At the March 2026 Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), India blocked the adoption of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA), a plurilateral initiative backed by 131 members, including 94 developing countries. India stood alone after South Africa

The Section 301 Forced Labor Import Ban Report

On June 2, 2026, USTR released its report on its Section 301 investigation into acts, policies, and practices of various economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

What To Expect from the USMCA Review?

The USMCA review is almost upon us. How exactly things will proceed is a bit unclear, as we've never done this sort of thing before, but July 1 is the six year anniversary of the USMCA's entry into force.

China in the World Trading System: A Response to Chad, and Some Comments on Froman-Greer

I'm going to use this post to (1) respond to Chad and (2) comment on an exchange between current U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer and former U.S. Trade Rep. Mike Froman at a recent CFR event.

Guest Post: Whose CBAM is it anyway? Of Default Values and Accreditation

The European Union’s (“EU”) Green Deal dream, the long-awaited Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”) – a carbon-pricing measure covering six industrial sectors – entered its definitive phase of application on January 1, 2026.

My Response To Simon on China in the World Trading System

Here are two quick reactions to the super important question of what explains why countries did not use WTO dispute settlement to push China to change.

My Questions for Chad on China in the World Trading System

At the Peterson Institute event launching the "How To Win a Trade War" book, Chad said some things about trade relations with China that I found interesting.

Guest Post: The Role of GATT Article XII in Interpreting and Applying Section 122

On May 7 a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled against the Trump administration’s latest round of global 10% tariffs.

Conference on In Search of Common Ground: China-EU Economic Relations in Times of Global Disorder

On 29-30 May 2026, Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China will hold a conference on In Search of Common Ground: China-EU Economic Relations in Times of Global Disorder. The program is here. It sets out the aims of the conference as follows: Since 2019, the European Union (EU)

Trade War Games (Review of How To Win a Trade War)

This blog post will offer a brief review of "How To Win a Trade War," by famous podcasters and think tankers/journalists Chad Bown and Soumaya Keynes. I wanted to post something in time for their official book launch (which is today), but I only got the book