Simon Lester

From Politico: The Trump administration is considering an executive order on withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA, according to two White House officials. A draft order has been submitted for the final stages of review and could be unveiled late this week or early next week, the officials said. The

A WTO arbitrator ruled today that Mexico can retaliate in the Tuna/Dolphin dispute: 7.1. For the reasons set out above, the Arbitrator determines that the level of nullification or impairment of benefits accruing to Mexico as a result of the 2013 Tuna Measure is USD 163.23 million

Here are a couple statements by Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross on U.S. - Canada trade issues.  First this: It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations. Last Monday, it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported

The Department of Commerce has made a preliminary determination of countervailable subsidies on imports of softwood lumber from Canada.  This is from the fact sheet: Commerce calculated preliminary subsidy rates for five mandatory respondents: for Canfor Corporation, 20.26 percent; for J.D. Irving, Limited, 3.02 percent; for Resolute

This is a guest post by Markus Wagner, and is cross-posted from EJIL: Talk! International organizations sometimes publish general reports – in addition to the usual annual versions – about their work and the future of their remit. Such reports invariably have a theme and are done when these organizations or the

This is from President Trump's remarks announcing a Section 232 investigation on steel: This investigation will look at how steel imports are impacting the United States national security, taking into account foreign practices such as steel dumping.  Dumping is a tremendous problem in this country.  They're

In a new paper, Mark Daku and Krzysztof Pelc argue that certain countries have more influence than others in shaping the language of WTO panel and AB rulings: We argue that power is most likely to be exercised at the margins. In the case of the WTO, such power can

From Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday will sign a directive asking for a speedy probe into whether imports of foreign-made steel are hurting U.S. national security, two administration officials said on Wednesday. Trump is to sign the memorandum related to section 232 of the Trade Expansion

... is here.  This is an excerpt: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to ensure the faithful execution of the laws, it is hereby ordered as follows: ... Sec. 2.  Policy.  It shall be the policy of

This is from a DOC notice and request for comments related to the use of domestic steel and iron in pipelines: The Department of Commerce is seeking information on the construction and maintenance of American pipelines. This information will help the Department develop a plan for the domestic sourcing of