International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Sign in Subscribe

Simon Lester

The Evidence on Trade and Peace

I see a few people questioning the idea that trade promotes peace, and I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Here are two recent examples from ex-Twitter: * This is from Paul Krugman: "Not just strategic relations. People underestimate the role of geopolitical ideas in economic

Virtual Event: The Economic Implications of Recent United Kingdom Trade Agreements for the US, Texas and Mexico

David Gantz passed along the following: The United Kingdom is in the midst of negotiating several international agreements that are likely to have direct economic impact on the United States, Mexico and Texas. These include an accession agreement to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (to which Mexico is an

Katherine Tai on Rising Inequality, Competition, and Environmental Leadership

U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai spoke at an event at the University of North Carolina last week. I thought her remarks offered some of the most clear and emphatic explanations of her philosophy on U.S. trade policy and trade politics. I suppose she has said all these things

Investment Arbitration Reporter Seeking Contributors

My friend Luke Peterson, the founder of Investment Arbitration Reporter, passed this along: Investment Arbitration Reporter is looking for one or more persons to join our team of freelance contributors. IAReporter offers specialized reporting and analysis of developments in the field of international investment law, and when relevant it focuses

Tim Scott's Trade Plans

The second Republican presidential primary debate is tomorrow. It would be great if there were some questions about trade policy, and maybe because Fox Business is one of the hosts, economic issues such as trade will be on the agenda. In the meantime, here are a few more details on

Some Ideas for the Future of Trade

Many people consider the present of trade to be a bit unpleasant, so it's natural to look towards the future of trade. I was part of an effort to do so at the Baker Institute last October, and you can watch the event here. There's now

Katherine Tai on Chinese Non-Market Practices and WTO Dispute Settlement Reform

At a CSIS event today with U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai and WTO DG Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, entitled "Why the Developing World and All of Us Need Trade and the WTO," Tai spoke about a number of issues related to the WTO. I'm going to

Would U.S. Dirty Steel Tariffs Be WTO-"Kosher"?

At the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics event today, economics correspondent Stephanie Flanders asked U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai about possible unilateral U.S. tariffs on dirty steel: I think the issue has been for the EU, and I think Vice President Dombrovskis has made it

Defending Globalization

Cato has a new project on "Defending Globalization," with a number of contributions so far and more coming. Here's the description: Globalization faces renewed attention—and criticism. Like any market phenomenon, the free movement of people, things, money, and ideas across natural or political borders is

How To Design a Subsidy Rule Carveout for Carbon Reduction Measures

Jennifer Hillman and Inu Manak have a new paper out called "Rethinking International Rules on Subsidies." In a nutshell, they argue that all the new subsidies being thrown around are likely to create difficulties in international economic relations, and some revised rules might help with that. One key