International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

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

The IPEF Supply Chain Agreement: Commitments, Institutions, Labor, Monitoring, Security, and Consultations

I haven't been following the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) negotiations as closely as some other people have, but I see that the text of the IPEF's Supply Chain Agreement was released yesterday. I don't have any hot takes on all this, but

Post by Joel Trachtman: Remaking Trade for Sustainable Development

Joel was having trouble posting, so despite my name as the author of the post, this is actually from him: Some readers of this blog are old enough to remember when I resisted arguments to apply international environmental law in WTO dispute settlement. My position then was based on a

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