Simon Lester

This is from Inside US Trade: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a U.S. anti-smoking group, is actively lobbying Democratic members of Congress hoping to sway them in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) based on the argument that the agreement's tobacco carveout is a major public health

Have you been following the U.S. presidential primaries? I don't recommend it. They are kind of awful. However, last night's GOP debate did have a bright spot or two related to trade. After the usual bluster by one candidate, and some mangled nonsense from another,

This is from Indian trade lawyer R.V. Anuradha: It is in this context that the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration’s admission of dissonance in the WTO membership on the ‘Doha mandate’ assumes greater significance. This dissonance is presented in the text of the declaration which records what “many Members” versus

If President Obama's mention of the TPP in the State of the Union address falls flat in Congress, and most people pretend they didn't hear it, will we hear the sound of Congress passing the TPP any time soon? This is from Inside US Trade: Members

This is from Inside US Trade: One business source said the Keystone ISDS claim definitely complicates the TPP approval process, but should be “manageable.” This source said the administration will likely fight back against criticism by arguing that the Keystone claim is frivolous and by highlighting the changes it secured

PluriCourts, at the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, has issued a call for papers for a conference on "Adjudicating International Trade and Investment Disputes: Between Interaction and Isolation" (more details at the links): CALL FOR PAPERS Adjudicating international trade and investment disputes: between interaction and isolation The

From TransCanada's press release: TransCanada Corporation ... announced today it has filed a Notice of Intent to initiate a claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in response to the U.S. Administration's decision to deny a Presidential Permit for the Keystone

10 years, man! 10 years! That's how long it has been since Joel did the first post (Tomer had the first comment).  It was on the EU GMO ban, and the EU's failure to comply with its WTO obligations.  What are the chances this issue will

You may have heard that there's this leading U.S. Presidential candidate making threats to violate U.S. international economic law obligations.  Yes, that one, but also this one: Hillary Clinton signaled a willingness to hold as "leverage" the patents of American companies keeping assets overseas

Recall that a while back, I talked about a new draft Indian model BIT.  As Investment Arbitration Reporter explains, India now has a final version of this model BIT.  IA Reporter has the complete rundown; I'm just going to mention briefly the general exceptions clause.  In the draft