Simon Lester

This is from the WSJ: President Donald Trump said his administration would take its time in making a long-awaited decision on whether to block steel imports, saying “we don’t want to do it at this moment.” Mr. Trump and his Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, had earlier this year

This is from blog reader and occasional commenter Adrián Vázquez Benítez, a Mexican trade lawyer: AFTER CHAPTER 19 NAFTA ELIMINATION: WHO WILL DEFEND US? USTR recently announced its objectives regarding the renegotiation of NAFTA, one seeking to remove Chapter 19 "Review and Dispute Settlement in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty

This is from Chad Bown: Figure 1 illustrates the United States’ use of [trade remedies] over the NAFTA period of 1994–2016, as well as a projection for potential use in 2017 (more on this below). Each line represents the share of US imports from a different foreign source that

Here are some excerpts from an old law review debate about the constitutionality of CUSFTA Chapter 19: Alan Morrison of Public Citizen: If the meaning and applicability of the laws of the United States dealing with antidumping and countervailing duties are enunciated and given legally binding effect in decisions directly

USTR has just published the Trump administration's NAFTA negotiating objectives here. Many of them will look familiar, as they are a standard part of U.S. trade negotiations.  Here are some examples: Investment - "Secure for U.S. investors in the NAFTA countries important rights consistent with U.

This is from the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter of the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (JEEPA), circulated by the EU last week: Article 4 Multilateral environmental agreements ... 4. The Parties reaffirm their commitment to achieving the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The

How much does ISDS litigation on tobacco regulation cost?  And who has to pay? This was from the Philip Morris v. Uruguay tribunal: 588. In view of the outcome of the case and the significant disproportion between the Parties’ respective costs, the Tribunal deems it fair and reasonable that the

Inside US Trade has some KORUS news: Following President Trump's promise to renegotiate the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement “right now,” an administration official told Inside U.S. Trade the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will formally request that both countries' joint committee convene

This is from a Q & A with Meg Kinnear, Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID): We have seen some anti-investment arbitration sentiment in the global press; what are the main misconceptions about ISDS? There are a number of fundamental misconceptions. For example,

From the comments on another post, here's something from David Gantz: Am I missing something with the announcement that Ford will build a new plant in China to build the next generation small car (Focus)? I believe that this was the plant that Ford originally planned for Mexico,