Simon Lester

Donald Trump talked about trade today: Greeted by supporters chanting "build the wall" as well as protesters, Donald Trump rallied thousands in Nebraska. Trump spoke for about 35 minutes, highlighting issues like trade and immigration. He made a point of saying he tailored his message for Nebraska, talking

From the Washington Post: Clinton, the Democratic pres­idential front-runner, responded in writing to a question on the lame-duck session from a coalition of Oregon labor unions and environmental groups by stating: “I oppose the TPP agreement — and that means before and after the election.” ... On the Oregon

Regular readers know how much I like to obsess over the meaning of "protectionism" and the purpose of trade agreements. Sweden's National Board of Trade has a great new report that delves into these questions. Here's an excerpt: As mentioned, the approaches to protectionism

This is from President Obama in an op-ed pushing for the TPP: ... China is negotiating a trade deal that would carve up some of the fastest-growing markets in the world at our expense, putting American jobs, businesses and goods at risk. ... Fortunately, America has a plan of our

This is from Inside US Trade: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and German Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Monday (April 25) each blamed the other side for holding up progress in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, with Gabriel charging the U.S. with intransigence on government

This is from EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström: It begs to be said, again and again: No EU trade agreement will ever lower our level of protection of consumers, or food safety, or of the environment. Trade agreements will not change our laws on GMOs, or how to produce safe

Reading further in the Argentina - Financial Services AB report, maybe I was getting all worked up over nothing.  After seeming to say that "regulatory aspects" of the measure cannot be considered as a separate step in the conditions of competition/treatment no less favorable analysis, the AB then

We had so much fun talking about discriminatory purpose last week, I thought I'd bring up the subject again.  This time, I want to focus on exactly how one might evaluate a measure's legitimacy, which you may or may not think involves a determination as to

From The Economist: TOBACCO companies specialise in contradiction. They herald the decline of smoking among youngsters, for example, then flaunt their sales to callow puffers. The most skilled contortionist in the industry may be Philip Morris International, the world’s biggest tobacco firm. To date, any good news for shareholders

This is a bold new case against steel imports: United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard issued the following statement today in support of a new petition filed by United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel) under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The petition was filed