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Simon Lester

New Paper on WTO Security Exception

Trade lawyers Stephen Kho, Yujin McNamara, Sarah Kirwin, and Brooke Davies have a new working paper published by the Graduate Institute, entitled "The Conundrum of the Essential Security Exception: Can the WTO Resolve the GATT Article XXI Crisis and Save the Dispute Settlement Mechanism?" This is from their

What Does the Biden Administration Like about the 1950s-1970s Economy and Trade Policy?

In a new Foreign Affairs piece where he makes the case for the Biden administration's approach to foreign policy, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan talks up what he sees as the good things that were happening in U.S. economic policy in the 1950s through the 1970s, and

Conference: The UK’s Accession to CPTPP: Legal and Policy Issues

Lorand Bartels sent along this notice of a CPTPP conference: The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge is holding a conference on ‘The UK’s Accession to CPTPP’ on 1 December 2023, covering legal, policy, and geostrategic issues. Details and registration: https://www.lcil.cam.ac.

Understanding the "Progressive Nationalist" View of Trade and International Economic Policy

I don't think it will come as a shock to anyone to hear that people who write about politics and policy often have an ideological agenda. (And yes, I confess that sometimes I have one! Maybe I should label my posts that have an ideological agenda so as

Is the Foreign Pollution Fee Bill WTO-Compliant?

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have introduced the Foreign Pollution Fee bill (S.3198), which would impose a fee on certain carbon-intense imports. A FAQ document for the bill explains how this would work: The legislation imposes a fee on products imported into the U.S. that

The U.S. Changes Its Mind in the WTO E-Commerce Negotiations

The U.S. made headlines last week by withdrawing some proposals it had previously made on specific aspects of the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on E-commerce negotiations. Many pro-trade people were upset by this decision, but for reasons I will explain below, I wasn't as bothered. My first

ISDS Event at Georgetown Law Tomorrow

This is from Georgetown Law's Center on Inclusive Trade and Development: Please join Senator Elizabeth Warren and Nobel laureate Joe Stiglitz on Wednesday, October 25, 1:30-2:30 PM ET for a special event on the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) regime. Georgetown Law’s Center on Inclusive Trade

Political Compromise and Reducing Carbon Emissions

In a new paper, law prof Tim Meyer offers a defense of combining (1) discriminatory regulations such as local content requirements with (2) subsidies to reduce carbon emissions. In the abstract of the paper, he says: Second, like all policies, green trade policies usually pursue multiple objectives. The fact that

The Fifth USMCA Panel

Yesterday, there was a notice posted here about panel composition in the Mexico - GE Corn (USMCA) case, with the following panelists having been appointed: * Christian Häberli, Chair of the panel * Hugo Perezcano Díaz, panelist * Jean E. Kalicki, panelist Kalicki is American and Perezcano Díaz is Mexican, so even though

Katherine Tai on Industrial Policy, the Global Steel and Aluminum Arrangement, and EU Digital Regulation

Last week, U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai spoke at the Center for American Progress. You can watch the whole event here. As I try to do whenever I have time and she says something in the Q & A that intrigues me, I'm going to quote a