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Simon Lester

The First CPTPP Panel Report

The first CPTPP panel report, in the Canada - Dairy TRQs case, was just circulated. A case on similar issues has already been litigated under the USMCA, and a new USMCA case is currently being litigated. At this point, I have just two small things to note about the panel

What if the Clinton Administration Hadn't Agreed to China's WTO Accession?

In recent years, I've frequently heard the argument that the Clinton administration made a mistake by allowing China to join the WTO. The specific actions here are the Clinton administration's completion of a bilateral deal with China in 1999 (which paved the way for other governments

Trump's Latest Tariff Talk

Former president Trump had the following exchange with his former economic adviser Larry Kudlow the other day: Kudlow: Let me ask you, what's your thinking here? Would you want tariffs on foreign goods coming into the US, take those revenues and cut taxes on American goods and American

Guest Post: A Reply to Aaron Cosbey’s Comment on our CBAM Post, from Reinhard Quick, Saarland University and Isha Das, University of Passau.

This is a guest post from Reinhard Quick, Saarland University and Isha Das, University of Passau. We would like to thank Aaron Cosbey for his thoughtful comments on our guest post and would like to reply by offering the following comments: 1. Prevention of Carbon Leakage The imposition of CBAMs

Guest Post: American ‘green’ protectionism, industrial decarbonsiation, and transatlantic steel and aluminium negotiations – a response to Todd N. Tucker and Timothy Meyer

This is a guest post by David Kleimann (PhD) - a visiting fellow at the Brussels based Bruegel think tank. He wishes to thank Todd N. Tucker and Timothy Meyer for productive debates in past and future. In July of this year, I published a Bruegel working paper titled ‘Section

Pence and Ramaswamy on Trade

I've got two more entries in my GOP presidential candidate trade policy monitoring exercise: Former Vice-President Mike Pence; and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has no political background but seems to be polling well enough to get into the upcoming Republican primary debate. What are the chances that either

Guest Post: Europe’s Attempt To Get Back in Pole Position in the Electric-Vehicle Subsidy Race

This is a guest post from trade lawyers Victor Crochet & Elyse Kneller The transition to electric vehicles (“EVs”) is at the centre of recent international economic tensions. European manufacturers have long been market leaders in the automotive industry. However, the shift away from combustion engine vehicles may be throwing

Reducing Carbon Emissions from Steel and Aluminum: A Follow-Up Rebuttal

Thanks to Tim Meyer and Ben Heath for responding to my "The Effectiveness of the GASSA in Reducing Carbon Emissions" post, in which I argued that trade remedies could undermine their argument for tariffs designed to encourage decarbonization of the steel and aluminum sectors. Let me first say

Guest Post: EU’s CBAM vs. the Paris Agreement: A response to Quick and Das

This is a guest post from Aaron Cosbey of IISD I am an unlikely defender of the EU’s CBAM, knowing full well its weaknesses and limitations. But in my opinion those faults do not include any of the arguments mustered against it by Reinhard Quick and Isha Das in

DeSantis on Trade Policy: More China Comments

As part of a speech yesterday called "A Declaration of Economic Independence," Ron DeSantis had the following comments on China trade issues: So the elites in this country have failed. Time and again, they've imposed policies that have proven short sighted and have proven counterproductive. And