International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

China's WTO Complaint on the Section 301 Tariffs

China's consultations request on the U.S. Section 301 tariffs is here. This is the key part: On 22 March 2018, the United States published related documents of the Section 301 investigations against China. On 3 April, the United State published a list of products of Chinese origin,

The U.S. Response to China's Retaliation: What Role for the DSU?

Here is the U.S. response to China's decision to deem the Section 232 tariffs a safeguard measure and to impose tariffs pursuant to provisions of the Safeguards Agreement: The United States has received China's requests for consultations under Article 12.3 of the Agreement on

Justifications in the U.S.-China National Security/Safeguards/Section 301 Tariff Fight

I have been puzzling over what is happening with the safeguards issues related to the U.S. steel/aluminum "national security" tariffs (and as I was drafting this post, Brett Williams raised the same issue in a comment here). This is what I see so far. Safeguards Agreement

China Retaliates Against the U.S. Steel/Aluminum Tariffs

This is from the Financial Times: China has unveiled retaliatory duties on US food imports including pork, fruit, nuts and wine of up to 25 per cent as a response to the Trump administration’s new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Beijing said the additional duties on 128 kinds

Forced Technology Transfer and the WTO

This is from the U.S. statements at the DSB meeting on March 27: The United States would be pleased to discuss at length the seriously trade distorting policies adopted by China that are the subject of the ongoing Section 301 investigation mentioned in China’s statement. It is these

Operative Time Frames for the Imposition of the China Section 301 Tariffs

Jennifer Hillman asked me to post the following: Does anyone know what the operative time frames are for the imposition of the China 301 tariffs? The President’s memorandum of March 22, in using the language “unreasonable or discriminatory and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce,” has made it

Will Anyone File a WTO Complaint Against the KORUS Steel Quotas?

Inside US Trade describes the steel quotas agreed to as part of the KORUS modifications as follows: Korea’s trade minister Kim Hyun-chong announced at a press briefing Monday that Korea would receive a quota of about 2.68 million tons of steel exports to the U.S. annually, which

The First Trump Trade Deal: The KORUS Renegotiation May Be Complete

Unlike NAFTA, the KORUS FTA renegotiation was not a complete overhaul, but more of a "refurbishing" of the agreement (as Ambassador Lighthizer put it the other day), one that was designed to avoid Congressional oversight. There are reports out now that the KORUS talks are complete, with what

The Section 232 Tariffs in U.S. Court

The first challenge to the Section 232 steel/aluminum tariffs has been filed (thanks to Larry Friedman for the tip). This is an excerpt from the complaint: Accordingly, Plaintiffs Severstal Export GmbH ("SSE") and Severstal Export Miami Corporation ("SSE M ") (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), by and

Lighthizer on a Sunset Clause in NAFTA

Here is another interesting issue that came up at last week's House Ways and Means Committee hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer: Congressman Johnson: Can you tell me what the sunset clause is and what they are trying to accomplish with it? Ambassador Lighthizer: Absolutely, Congressman.