International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Sign in Subscribe

Simon Lester

Trade Wars vs. Trade Conflict

In a post entitled "Preemptive Unilateral Disarmament," Paul Krugman is upset that Secretary Geithner doesn't want a "trade war": So, why did Tim Geithner feel the need to declare, We’re not going to have a trade war; we’re not going to have

Can Trade Preferences Be Used To Promote Non-Trade Policies?

Using trade preferences to promote non-trade policies is controversial. It's not completely clear to what extent this is permitted under WTO rules. And regardless of the legality, it can be irritating to those countries on the receiving end of these demands. In addition to those questions, there is

The House Currency Bill Committee Report

A commenter mentioned the House Committee Report related to the currency bill. I have uploaded it here. I found a number of aspects of the report interesting. One thing that comes out is that, despite the perception that Congress doesn't care whether it violates WTO rules, clearly the

More on Concerns with Investment Arbitration Standards

In the comments, anon99 says: Pauwelyn has a new article which "claims that based on fifteen years of operation both the hopes and fears traditionally linked to TRIPS and its enforcement under the WTO dispute settlement system were and continue to be largely exaggerated." It is getting close

Scott Lincicome on the China Currency Bill

What will the impact be if the china currency bill passed by the House eventually becomes law? Scott Lincicome explains: Assuming the bill becomes law as written, a large spike in CVD petitions against China is highly unlikely in the near term. Instead, only a small number of “test case”

The Philip Morris Investment Claim

I did some previous posts (see, e.g., here) about the investment claim brought by Philip Morris against Uruguay under a Uruguay-Switzerland BIT. Todd Weiler, who knows a thing or two about investment claims, has written a legal opinion for Physicians for a Smoke Free Canada, in which he examines

The Tuna/Dolphin NAFTA Panel Request

As discussed here, here, here and here, Mexico and the United States disagree on the proper forum for the current tuna/dolphin dispute. Mexico thinks the WTO is the right forum; the United States thinks the dispute should be removed to NAFTA. The dispute is proceeding at the WTO (for

Internet Gambling Bans and the Dormant Commerce Clause

One of the lingering questions for me after the U.S. - Gambling WTO dispute was how a pure internet gambling ban would be treated under WTO rules. The measures at issue in U.S. - Gambling had some pretty clear discriminatory aspects. What if the U.S. measures had

More on Export Contingency and China Currency Issues

We had a good discussion here about the proper approach to determining export contingency in relation to Chinese currency issues. In the comments on the linked post, anon99 said this: Exporters don't have to export to get the "extra RMB". They could, for example, make overseas

China-Japan Trade Tensions

From the NY Times: Sharply raising the stakes in a dispute over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain, the Chinese government has blocked exports to Japan of a crucial category of minerals used in products like hybrid cars, wind turbines and guided missiles. Chinese customs officials are