International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Beef Hormones: A Few More Details Emerge

In two recent posts, we had been talking about the U.S.-EU beef agreement. The agreement seemed to be mostly about market access for non-hormone treated beef, which led me to wonder what everyone involved had in mind in relation to market access for hormone-treated beef. USTR Ron Kirk&

U.S. Beverages Taxes

Taxes on beverages have a long and interesting history in GATT/WTO dispute settlement. I hope Congress keeps this in mind as they consider taxing soda and alcoholic beverages to help pay for health care reform. See here, here and here for details. The last article notes that the soda

Trade Liberalization that Dani Rodrik Can Get Behind

I am often left wondering what Dani Rodrik thinks of trade. I try to parse his various criticisms of the current trade regime, but I still can't figure out where exactly he stands on core issues such as, "Is protectionism a good policy?" Most likely, his

Metric Labeling as a Trade Barrier

The Commerce Department announces a victory with regard to EU metric labeling: The Commerce Department today announced the successful culmination of its efforts to ensure extension of both non-metric and metric labeling provisions on product packaging for U.S. businesses exporting to the European Union—saving U.S. firms hundreds

It's World Trade Week

Apparently, May 17-23 is "World Trade Week." See the White House press release here, which concludes: NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby

The Seals Dispute: The Economist Offers Some Arguments

In this week's issue, the Economist weighs in on the EU's decision to ban most seal products. They make the point that if the EU wanted to promote animal welfare, they had other avenues, closer to home, to do so: ROUGHLY handled, and incompetently stunned, terrified

The Latest on Currency Disputes

I'm going to go out on (somewhat of) a limb, and predict that this legislation, or something like it, will pass and result in a major trade dispute in the near future: US lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled a plan to retaliate against countries, like China, that allegedly manipulate

Is the Intel Verdict Protectionist?

Some people say yes: American technology advocates and legal experts have roundly condemned the EU's decision to fine Intel nearly a billion pounds for breaking anti-trust laws. Grant Aldonas, Senior Advisor at the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), says, "This is a potentially costly

"U.S. trade chief wows partners, substance awaited"

That's how Reuters describes USTR Ron Kirk's Geneva trip. More here.

Interpreting International Law

On SSRN, Professor Michael Paulsen has posted "The Constitutional Power to Interpret International Law." An extract from the paper: What, then, of international bodies’ interpretations of international law, including international treaties to which the United States is party—such as the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and