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Latest — 27 Apr 2026

Is There No Going Back on Trade? What Is the Path Forward? A Response to Lighthizer

Former U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has a new essay in Foreign Affairs, and I have some thoughts. I'm going to start with his brief big picture points on the direction of U.S. trade policy, and then go through a couple of the specific concepts he emphasizes.

The Section 301 Excess Capacity Investigation Needs Less Madness, More Method

Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s emergency tariffs under IEEPA unconstitutional, the administration scrambled to rebuild its tariff wall. While the announcement of Section 122 tariffs immediately following the ruling will provide a temporary patch, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office quickly began to utilize another

The Australia-EU FTA Data Flows Obligations and Exceptions

The digital trade chapter of the Australia-EU FTA text is a new data point in looking out how governments are crafting data flow provisions and exceptions, as part of an effort to constrain domestic regulations while still providing the space to pursue legitimate public policies.

Scrutinizing and Monitoring Trade Remedies, at the WTO and by Governments

With all the new directions in tariff imposition that have taken place in recent years here in the U.S., traditional trade remedies have been overshadowed to some extent. But they haven't gone away, and in fact are as widely used as ever, both in the U.S. and in other countries.

Congress Should Push for Transparency in the Enforcement of the New U.S. Trade Deals

U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer is scheduled to testify tomorrow before a House Subcommittee, with a focus on the USTR budget but if I recall correctly from past experience any topic can be raised at these budget hearings (and I would think he will testify soon on the President&

War Tariffs

This is a co-authored post by Kathleen Claussen and Tim Meyer. Last week, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing new tariffs of 50 percent of the value of any product coming from any country that sells weapons or provides military aid to Iran. Some commentators questioned

Jamieson Greer on Not Getting Fooled by Discriminatory EU Tech Regulations

At a Hudson Institute event earlier this week, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer had the following exchange with Peter Rough of Hudson on EU digital regulations: Rough: The joint statement last August with the Europeans filling out the Turnberry agreement that the President struck with Commission President von der

USMCA Review and Extension Predictions

When the idea of an expiration clause was suggested during the NAFTA renegotiation, I was against it from the start, and Inu and I wrote a pretty critical piece about it at the time. A review is great, we said, let's definitely have reviews, and there are plenty of ways to do that.

The Future of the TRIPS Agreement Non-Violation / Situation Complaint Moratorium

One of the things that didn't get done at MC14 was the adoption of a Ministerial Decision to extend the moratorium on TRIPS Agreement non-violation and situation complaints. As explained by the WTO DG, this issue will now be part of the continued work in Geneva.

It’s the End of the World (TO) as We Know it

Revealed Preferences Matter China, the EU (European Union), and the U.S. have in recent weeks all tabled in writing their views regarding the future of the WTO.[1] The end result should leave no one in doubt that coordination costs between the three dominant players in the trading sphere