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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

An Olympic Boycott and the WTO

All the recent talk about a boycott of the Olympics, or the opening ceremonies at least, has me wondering: Is there a WTO violation here? My guess is no, but I have more questions than definite answers. Some questions: -- First, services seems like the most promising place to look, but

Trade in Water

From an editorial in the Toronto Star: As aquifers and rivers in the United States run dry, there seems little doubt that the Americans will be turning their thirsty eyes north toward our seemingly plentiful water supply. Indeed, no less an authority than former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed has predicted:

Labor Rules in Trade Agreements: Child Labor

A reader points me to the following from the Progressive Policy Institute: The ILO's 'core' labor standard on child labor is set out in ILO Convention #138 on Minimum Working Age. Dating to 1973, the Convention reads as follows: "The minimum age ... shall not be

The Candidates' Advisers on Trade

One of our readers pointed me to a recent panel discussion at the Institute for Policy Innovation on "Where the Candidates Stand on Trade." It was quite good, I thought. Here are some excerpts, but it's worth skimming through the whole thing, including the Q &

SIEL Conference Update

From The SIEL Conference Committee: Society of International Economic Law - Conference Booking Arrangements For those of you who are planning to attend SIEL's Inaugural Conference in Geneva on July 15-17 this year, we strongly suggest that you register and book your travel and accommodation as early as

Play Ball: MLB and the WTO

With the U.S. professional baseball season under way this week, I was happy to come across a reason for a blog post about baseball. A Time magazine article reports that Japan's professional baseball league is complaining about the trade impact of Major League Baseball (MLB), after MLB

The AB Appointments Crisis: The DSB Discussion

The minutes of the DSB meeting discussing the last round of AB appointments, involving Taiwan's objections, are now available: http://www.worldtradelaw.net/dsbminutes/m242.pdf See Item 1 of the agenda.

Obama on the Tanker Deal

From the AP: An Iraq war veteran at the town hall asked [Senator Obama's] opinion of a recent decision by the Pentagon to award a a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to a consortium led by Airbus , located in Europe , over a bid led by U.S.

Trade in Everything: Canadian Mounties

From the Economist: THE Caribbean island of Antigua is an odd place to find a Mountie, with not a horse or a snowflake in sight. But three former officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police this month began a two-year stint reforming the island's chaotic constabulary. They

About that Gambling Settlement ...

... doesn't look like it is going to happen: The deadline for the US to put forward a proposal to settle its long running Internet gambling dispute passed yesterday with Antigua and Barbuda reportedly receiving no word from the US. Up to late yesterday, neither Antigua and Barbuda’s