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Simon Lester

Simon Lester

Co-founder of WorldTradeLaw.net and China Trade Monitor. Non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute.

http://simonlester.com

Buy America under WTO Rules

With regard to Brazil's possible WTO complaint against the Buy America stimulus provisions, I had been caught up with trying to figure out how Brazil would deal with the GATT Article III:8(a) exemption. However, a commenter pointed out SCM Agreement Article 3.1(b), which I

Obama and Harper Talk Trade

From their joint press conference: Q Thank you, to both of you. I've got a question for both of you. Mr. President, on Tuesday you said that now is not the time to reopen NAFTA. But your aides said that you would be trying to convince our friends

Trade Implications of The Auto Bailout

Some experts weigh in: Claire Brunel and Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute: Auto bailouts in the United States and elsewhere largely fall within the purview of the WTO definition of actionable subsidies. But fuel-efficiency and environmental standards complicate the issue, and bringing a case to the WTO based

"Buy Keynesian"

Todd Tucker at Eyes on Trade points to the following proposal, referred to as a "Buy Keynesian" policy, from John Schmitt at CEPR: The President could rewrite the current "Buy American" restriction to allow US recovery funds to be spent on US goods — as well as

A Possible "Buy America" WTO Complaint

From Reuters: Brazil may challenge the legality of a "Buy American" clause in the recently approved U.S. economic stimulus package at the World Trade Organization, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Monday. "It's a complex legal analysis, but we're doing it,

"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—