Simon Lester

While I was hanging out at the ELSA WTO Moot Court All-American regional round at AU law school yesterday, a DC trade lawyer said something interesting: Switzerland almost never participates in WTO disputes, even as a third party.  That sounded familiar, but I thought I'd look up

Gary Hufbauer and Sherry Stephenson propose the following mutilateral investment agreement: ... Following its achievements at the 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the World Trade Organization (WTO) should launch negotiations to draft a 21st century Investment Framework Agreement (IFA). ... The IFA should start life as a plurilateral agreement. While the

From the Washington Post: After a blowout at its Macondo exploration well killed 11 workers, set fire to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and triggered a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a contrite BP vowed to “make things right” and set aside $42.5 billion to do

In recent years, two of the hottest trade issues have been plain packaging of cigarettes, and trade with China. What if we could combine the two? This is from the Economist: Planners have consolidated the once-fragmented [Chinese tobacco] industry. In the decade to 2010, 185 cigarette firms and 1,

From the Washington Post editorial board: The most powerful non-military tool the United States possesses is exclusion from its banking system. Mr. Obama should make clear that if Russia does not retreat from Ukraine, it will expose itself to this sanction, which could sink its financial system. Russia’s

He is skeptical: What the T.P.P. would do ... is increase the ability of certain corporations to assert control over intellectual property. Again, think drug patents and movie rights. Is this a good thing from a global point of view? Doubtful. The kind of property rights we’re talking

From the WTO: The Chair of the DSB updated WTO members on the process for replacing the Appellate Body member David Unterhalter (South Africa) who ended his second four-year term in December last year. The DSB took note of the communication by the Selection Committee informing WTO members that

I have a short article in the latest issue of the JIEL (subscribers only), in which I talk about the negotiations on TBT issues in the GATT era, and the implications for the scope of international economic law.  Here's a bit from the conclusion: Whether or not it

This is from Tim Lee of the Washington Post: This spring, the Supreme Court will weigh in on the patentability of software for the first time in a generation. In the 1970s, the high court placed strict rules on software-related patents. But since then, a lower court has effectively