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Simon Lester

Two Reasons for a Two-Tier WTO Dispute Settlement System

As part of the WTO DS reform exercise, USTR officials have mentioned the importance of having WTO Members explain what they see as their interests in the system. In a recent communication to the WTO, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia and South Africa have weighed in on their interest in a

Katherine Tai on Tariffs (Again)

At a CFR event on Monday, U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai said some things about tariffs. I know, I just did a blog post about Katherine Tai talking about tariffs! But she said some more things, and I have more to say in response. There were two sets of

What Chinese Behavior is Outside the Scope of WTO Rules?

At a House Ways and Means Committee trade hearing last week, Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) said this: Many countries, especially China, ... engage in predatory, unfair, and anti-free market behavior outside the scope of the WTO rules. While the rules could of course be tightened, it's important to note

Reinterpreting WTO Non-Discrimination Obligations

The excellent and interesting Villars Framework 2.0, which was recently released, expresses concern that "[j]udicial balancing tests may leave states uncertain as to which sustainability standards are permitted and which are not," and offers the following reform proposal related to PPM-based standards: This problem of uncertainty,

Katherine Tai on China and Tariffs

I have one final post on U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai's event at the University of Chicago last week, addressing issues related to China and tariffs. First up, there was this exchange about China: Q: Some people, even Trump haters, will give him some credit for beginning

Katherine Tai on Trade and Peace

Here's another item from the Katherine Tai event at the University of Chicago last week: Q: So let's go back to that comment you made about McDonald's, and that old theory that if there were a McDonald's in two countries, they would

Guest Post: The WTO E-commerce Agreement and its relationship to existing WTO rights and obligations

This is a guest post from Ines Willemyns, Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School Earlier this week, the draft chairs text of the WTO e-commerce negotiations was leaked to the public. The text, dated 15 January 2024, puts forward a “commercially meaningful and inclusive package”, reflecting

Rep. Don Beyer and Bruce Hirsh on Trade Agreements and National Security

At a House Ways and Means Committee trade hearing yesterday, Congressman Don Beyer asked a good question of former USTR official Bruce Hirsh about possible abuse of the national security exception in trade agreements: Mr. Hirsh, you mentioned that, you talked about the dispute over whether WTO panels can second

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Just a quick blog housekeeping note: For those of you who follow the blog via an RSS feed, one version of the feed wasn't working, and if you notice any problems it is probably better to use this one instead: https://worldtradelaw.typepad.com/ielpblog/rss.xml

Katherine Tai on the GE Corn USMCA Dispute

Following up on my last post, here's another quote from U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai speaking at the University of Chicago yesterday, this one in response to a question on the GE Corn USMCA dispute: Q: Your office is bringing an international trade complaint against Mexico under