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Simon Lester

"Naming and Shaming" Protectionism

Gary Hufbauer proposes the following: Here’s one proposal, built on the force of “name and shame.” A visionary private foundation might convene a blue-ribbon bench of respected trade economists and lawyers, independent of any government or the WTO. The bench would be drawn from eminent persons around the

The Final "Buy America" Provisions in the Stimulus Bill

The White House approves: Congressional negotiators have come up with the "right compromise" on 'Buy American' provisions of the economic stimulus bill that have raised concern among U.S. trade partners, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. "I think where we ended up with

The US-EU Gambling Settlement

I've mentioned before (here and here) that journalist Ed Brayton has been trying to find out what is in the settlement reached by the U.S. and EU in relation to the Gambling case. Brayton now has something to report, although it appears the full details will have

Do We Need Subsidies Rules for Services?

The UK gives up on a WTO subsidies complaint because there are no rules for subsidies to services: "Last year the Government said that the UK via the European Union would take legal action against Canada if its support for its videogames industry violated WTO rules," said Richard

Economic Nationalism

The Economist has a pretty dramatic cover piece this week. The title is "The Return of Economic Nationalism," and the cover shows a hand clawing its way out of the ground in a graveyard full of names such as Smoot/Hawley. In the piece, they argue: Economic nationalism—

Free Book Chapter on the History of Investment Treaty Law

New from Andrew Newcombe, Law and Practice of Investment Treaties: Standards of Treatment, co-authored with Lluís Paradell. The first chapter (a 73 page in-depth treatment of the historical development of investment treaty law) is available for free here: http://ita.law.uvic.ca/documents/NewcombeandParadellLawandPracticeofInvestmentTreaties-Chapter1.pdf

Tax Breaks for Buying New Cars "Assembled in the United States"

Is this a WTO violation: Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced that they plan to introduce an amendment to the Senate stimulus package tonight that would help American automakers sell their cars ,while also taking older, less fuel-efficient cars off the road. The Sell

More on Separation of Trade Powers

A little while back, I mentioned a proposal to change the balance of power on trade issues between Congress and the President. Now, under a bill proposed by Sen. Olympia Snowe, the courts could play a greater role as well: The Trade CLAIM Act of 2009, which is cosponsored by

Global Trade Watch on the Buy America Controversy

Global Trade Watch says: The hysteria coming from European Union (EU) and Canadian officials about the Buy America and Buy American domestic preferences in the U.S. stimulus bill is particularly odd, given that both the EU and Canada have wisely excluded considerably broader swaths of their procurement activity from

Buy America in the White House Press Briefing

Not that this really clarifies anything (press briefings rarely do), but I thought it worth noting anyway: Q Robert, in some of the interviews last night, the President seemed to back off -- pardon me -- earlier commitments to "Buy American" provisions. Is he in favor of "Buy American&