Simon Lester

Instead of the U.S. - China trade war that may have seemed like it was coming, we are seeing positive U.S. - China trade relations so far.  The Trump administration and China recently worked out a deal on a few small trade issues.  Here are two items to

This is from an Economist interview with Donald Trump: It sounds like you’re imagining a pretty big renegotiation of NAFTA. What would a fair NAFTA look like? Big isn’t a good enough word. Massive. Huge? It’s got to be. It’s got to be. What would it

Former President Jimmy Carter weighed in on the U.S.-Canada lumber dispute yesterday.  He noted that "[t]imber sales are a major source of income for my own family," and he thus agreed with the U.S. industry that Canada is behaving unfairly, as the provinces charge

The Trump administration has recently announced Section 232 investigations into whether steel and aluminum imports impair national security.  A key issue will be whether these products are "being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security."

Bloomberg reports: The World Trade Organization upheld Australia’s right to impose plain-package label restrictions on the sale of tobacco products, dealing a blow to the cigarette industry, according to two people close to the situation. A WTO dispute-settlement panel backed Australia’s argument that the rules it set in

Following-up on my last post, the Executive Order Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses is here.  Let's go through it quickly. Here's how it starts: Section 1.  Policy.  Every trade agreement and investment agreement entered into by the United States, and all trade relations and trade

A new Executive Order on Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses is coming soon (I haven't seen the official document yet). An explanation by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a press briefing is here. I have some thoughts on what Ross said. Here's how he started off:

On May 16, the ECJ will issue its opinion on the EU-Singapre FTA.  In anticipation of that, here's a new paper on the case from David Kleimann: On December 21, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) published the legal view of CJEU Advocate General (AG) Sharpston

This is from Reuters: Bankrupt U.S. solar panel maker Suniva on Wednesday asked federal trade officials to recommend new duties on imported solar products to combat a global oversupply of panels that has depressed prices and made American producers unable to compete. The company, which was founded in Georgia

I've been asked this question, and I'm not completely sure of the answer.  This is what a CRS report says: An interesting question is the basis on which U.S.-Canada trade would be conducted following a withdrawal from NAFTA. Sec. 107 of the NAFTA implementing