International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Is Everything We Thought about the World Economy Wrong?

This post is a response to a NY Times piece from a couple weeks ago called "Why It Seems Everything We Knew About the Global Economy Is No Longer True," by the Times' global economics correspondent Patricia Cohen. In my view, there are a number of overstatements

Nikki Haley on Chinese Trade and Investment

At AEI today, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley gave a speech on the Future of US-China Policy, and in that context said some things about issues related to trade and investment with China. First up, like many other people these days, she wants to revisit the decision to let China

Guest Post: WTO Overload: Time to Offload

This is a guest post by Bashar Malkawi, Global Professor of Practice in Law at the University of Arizona The WTO system by and large is overloaded. Those who are involved in the WTO system frequently seek to extract more from the WTO system than the process can, practically and

Ron DeSantis on China Trade

Unfortunately, U.S. election season is upon us, and perhaps it would be useful if I documented the presidential candidates' statements on trade. That's mostly going to feature the Republican presidential hopefuls (and hopelesses, if that's a word!), but if Biden says anything new and

Katherine Tai on Colonialism and Industrialization

You don't see much talk about "colonialism" in mainstream U.S. trade policy discussions, so I was excited to see this from U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai in her speech last week: Whether it is through working with us on the Critical Minerals Agreement, the

Katherine Tai Speech on Resilience and Security

In remarks yesterday that a USTR press release referred to as a "major speech," U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai offered a detailed explanation and defense of the Biden administration's trade policy. There were a number of points I disagreed with, but instead of going line

WTO DS Reform Proposals: Sunset Clause, ADR, and Streamlining the Panel Process

Geneva-based reporter Ravi Kanth has another piece about the ongoing WTO dispute settlement reform discussions, offering some detail on three specific proposals: -- review/sunset clause -- ADR -- streamlining the panel process On review and sunset, Kanth says the following: The UK introduced the proposal with the interests here

Would a U.S. Carbon Border Tax Pressure Other Countries To Reduce Emissions, or Just Lead To Retaliation?

A recent Washington Post article describes a new piece of U.S. legislation that could eventually lead to the imposition of a carbon border tax: In a rare example of a bipartisan climate policy, momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for a plan to tax imports from China and other

USTR Goes Old School in USMCA Complaint on Mexican GE Corn Ban

Back in the 1990s, an important area of the trade policy debate was about how WTO rules might interfere with domestic environmental, food safety, and other public policy measures. There were cases such as Shrimp/Turtle, with a number of countries challenging a U.S. environmental measure; and EC -

The Supreme Court's Latest Ruling on the Dormant Commerce Clause: More Evidence that People Disagree on the Appropriate Degree of Economic Integration

It has been a while since I've written about a U.S. Supreme Court dormant Commerce Clause case, but the recent National Pork Producers Council v. Ross decision provides a great opportunity to revisit the issue. Steve Charnovitz commented on the decision here. (Here are some other takes: