International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

SIEL Call for Papers: Navigating New Horizons: International Economic Law in a Changing World

This is from SIEL: The Ninth Biennial Global Conference of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) will take place on 9-11 July 2025 in Taipei (Taiwan), in collaboration with National Taiwan University (NTU). SIEL’s Ninth Biennial Global Conference will be in person and address the pressures of escalating

Still Puzzling over Privacy Exceptions in Digital Trade Chapters/Agreements

There seems to be a lot of experimentation going on these days with exceptions for the protection of personal data/privacy in digital trade agreements/chapters. I've talked about the some of these exceptions in prior posts, but to be honest I think I missed some nuances as

Guest Post: IMO Carbon Pricing Mechanism, the Equitable Transition of International Shipping, and WTO Law

This is a guest post from Goran Dominioni, Assistant Professor, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University International maritime transport is the lifeblood of the global economy, accounting for about 80 percent of international trade (by volume). In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO)—the UN agency that

Alan Sykes on Making WTO Appeals Discretionary

Stanford law prof Alan Sykes has posted a new paper entitled "The Utility of Appellate Review at the WTO and Its Optimal Structure." One part of the paper that I found particularly interesting was his call for any appeals body to have discretion over what appeals to hear:

Guest Post: Time to regulate cross-border subsidies? Who decides?

This is a guest post from Luca Rubini, Senior Research Fellow in International Law, University of Turin This brief post has been triggered by yesterday’s delivery of the Opinion of Advocate General Capeta in the Fiberglass case currently pending before the European Court of Justice. The key legal issue

U.S. Subsidies vs. Chinese Subsidies / Good vs. Bad Subsidies

At a press briefing with Ambassador Tai on the announcement that the Biden administration would maintain the Section 301 tariffs on China and add tariffs on a few additional products, a reporter asked the following question regarding U.S. vs. Chinese electric vehicle subsidies: The U.S. government is subsidizing

Director of WTO Rules Division: Apply Soon!

If you are a trade remedies expert contemplating a career change, here's a great opportunity: The Secretariat of the WTO is seeking to fill a position of Director to lead the Rules Division. The Rules Division is responsible for all aspects of WTO work, legal and technical, in

USTR's View of Non-Discrimination

Here is an excerpt from the U.S. statement at the last DSB meeting, in which it discusses the EU - Palm Oil panel's interpretation of non-discrimination in TBT Agreement Article 2.1: - The United States is disappointed that the Panel in this dispute at times simply

The U.S. Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment Argument in the USMCA GE Corn Dispute

In its rebuttal submission in the Mexico - GE Corn USMCA dispute, the U.S. has set out a non-violation nullification or impairment claim as an alternative to its violation claims (the U.S. did not elucidate the non-violation claim in its initial written submission, but it did indicate in

What Would Joe Stiglitz Do about WTO Subsidies Rules?

In a recent Foreign Policy piece, economist Joe Stiglitz makes several references to WTO rules "forbidding" industrial subsidies: The current moment is a good illustration. It is the product of longstanding beliefs and power relations. Under this system, industrial subsidies were a no-no, forbidden (so it was thought)