International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Trade Agreements Promote Trade

Not a very surprising conclusion, I know, but interesting to see it demonstrated (subscription only): TRADE between Singapore and the US totalled $86.3 billion last year, close to 20 per cent up from when the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took effect in 2004, according to an official statement

The Bananas Deal

From Reuters: During a meeting of trade ministers in July 2008 seeking a breakthrough in the Doha round, Brussels and the Latin Americans negotiated a deal that would cut the tariff to $114 a tonne by 2016, with an initial cut to $148. Brussels walked away from that agreement when

The Byrd Amendment: Not Dead Yet

But it won't last much longer: La-Z-Boy has received $3 million from the U.S. government in antidumping duties and will report the income on its fiscal third quarter statement, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. La-Z-Boy is among a number of

Trade in Everything: Nuclear Waste

From the AP: The House on Wednesday passed a bill banning the importation of radioactive waste for disposal in the United States. The move was prompted by a Salt Lake City company's plan to import 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italian nuclear plants. The waste

The EU Is Finally The EU

Follow this link and see the box on the right: For the first time in the WTO, the name “European Union” was used in the 1 December 2009 working session at the Geneva Ministerial Conference. This was the result of the Lisbon Treaty taking effect. Before that, for legal reasons

Some Thoughts on "Single Undertakings"

In the news: Impatience with the glacial pace of global free trade negotiations prompted calls this week for the Doha round to be smashed into smaller and more digestible mini-deals that could be agreed quickly. At a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva, ministers from both rich and poor countries

Free Trade and the NBA

Senator Chuck Schumer is concerned with the NBA dressing its players in foreign gear. It's gotta be the shoes, right? Actually, it's the uniforms: A U.S. senator from New York doesn't want NBA players taking to the court wearing jerseys made in Asia.

The WTO's "Political Problem"

Alan Beattie of the FT assesses the Doha impasse this way:It’s not the global mechanisms that are wonky. It’s the weakness of the national governments pulling the levers. This would be as true of a plurilateral trade deal as of a multilateral, of course. There is no

Brazil vs. The U.S. On Doha

USTR Ron Kirk: But to close the remaining gaps in agriculture, NAMA, and services particularly with regard to the market access commitments by the most advanced developing countries this multilateral work needs to be supplemented by sustained direct bilateral engagement, as called for by G-20 leaders. There is no secret

Creative Solutions to the Chinese Currency Issue

Dan Drezner half-jokingly proposes the following: It would be interesting for the U.S. Trade Representative and the EU Trade Directorate to make the following proposal: Hey, Wen, you're right about the unfair tire tariffs and the like. Let's make a trade deal: you allow the