International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Guest Post: The Unilateralization of Trade Governance: Constructive, Reconstructive, and Deconstructive Unilateralism

This is a guest post by law professor Geraldo Vidigal. A revised version of this post will appear in the next issue of Legal Issues of Economic Integration. 1. Introduction The year 2022 was a paradoxical one for global trade governance. On the one hand, Members of the World Trade

The First MPIA Award and DSU Article 11

This is from the Colombia - Frozen Fries MPIA Award issued today: 4.2. The Arbitrators take due note of paragraph 12 of the Agreed Procedures, which mandates that the Award in this Arbitration be issued within 90 days of the filing of the Notice of Appeal, and which permits

The First MPIA Award Is Out, and It Discusses AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii) "Permissible" Interpretations

The first MPIA Award, in the Colombia - Frozen Fries disputes, was circulated today. In a previous blog post on this dispute, I had some uncertainty about whether the arbitrators would say anything about the AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii) legal standard of review, but it turns out they

Questions about U.S. Trade Policy

Like many people, I have some questions about U.S. trade policy these days. I don't know if asking them publicly like this will get U.S. trade officials to answer, but it can't hurt to try! Here are four areas where I'd like

Call for Papers “A Sustainable International Investment Law for Energy? The Role of the EU and the Troublesome Practice and Future of the Energy Charter Treaty”

This is from Luca Rubini: DIEcon, the Interest Group on International Economic Law of the Italian Society of International and EU Law (SIDI), together with Professors Pia Acconci and Maria Rosaria Mauro, launches the Call for Papers “A Sustainable International Investment Law for Energy? The Role of the EU and

Katherine Tai on the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum

At an EXIM bank event yesterday, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the following about the proposed Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum: And the concept would be for the US and the EU to join our markets, and to use access to our markets to leverage fair

Some Questions after the WTO Panel Reports on the U.S. Section 232 Tariffs

Four separate WTO panel reports related to the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum were circulated on Friday, in complaints brought by China, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkiye. Here are some questions I had about these disputes. What will the complainants do now? Assuming the U.S. appeals

Tariffs vs. Buy National Procurement vs. Domestic Content Requirements

I assume most readers of this blog will already understand what I'm about to say, but I'm writing it because I see a bit of confusion in the public discussion of issues surrounding the Inflation Reduction Act's electric vehicle tax credits. These tax credits

How Is the Biden Administration Thinking about "Industrial Strategy" and International Economic Relations?

Last week, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves made some remarks on "Modern Industrial Strategy for U.S. Competitiveness, Equity, and Resilience." In his remarks, Graves explained how the Biden administration was providing direct subsidies and other government support to promote certain sectors of the U.S. economy.

The Frozen Fries Appeal: Permissible Interpretations under AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii)

When the Colombia - Frozen Fries MPIA appeal started up, I noted that "most of the issues are pretty basic anti-dumping ones, but there is a possibility of an important systemic issue coming up," as "[t]he panel report gets into the issue of the AD Agreement