Simon Lester

As everyone has probably heard by now (although you may not have heard, as the decision was announced late on Friday night) the Obama administration has decided to impose tariffs on Chinese tire imports pursuant to the China-specific safeguard mechanism.  The rates are 35 percent ad valorem in the first

Paul Krugman says: Free trade is supposed to be about a principle: nondiscrimination between domestic and foreign goods. If only it were so simple. Certainly everyone would agree that non-discrimination betweeen domestic and foreign goods (and services) is a crucial part of free trade.  But there are a number of

With the the U.S. health care reform debate heating up, I can't resist jumping in here with some thoughts on how "free trade" could play a role in improving health care.  I have two things in mind:  (1) free trade within the U.S. and

Reuters has some new details on the WTO Airbus ruling: Picking apart the contrasting claims, two sources familiar with the case told Reuters the draft conclusions of a five-year WTO probe overwhelmingly backed U.S. charges that the dozen or so loans were "actionable" subsidies that harmed Boeing.

From the WSJ: The Journal reported that the WTO in its interim ruling classified every launch aid package given for the A380 passenger jet as an illegal subsidy.ADDED: Let the debate over what the ruling actually says commence.  From Reuters: Comments that the World Trade Organization on Friday backed

So far, the details of the Airbus ruling have not been leaked, so nothing to comment on in that regard.  However, I did have a quibble with this statement by the Economist: Theoretically the WTO ruling, if confirmed and not over-turned on appeal, could cause a trade war between the