International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

The U.S. View of Precedent in Article 22.6 Proceedings

I was intrigued by this passage in the U.S. - Countervailing Measures (China) Article 22.6 Arbitration Decision circulated last week: 3.137. Basing our choice of the year-prior on the calendar year preceding the imposition of the preliminary CVDs would therefore secure a correct calculation, rather than, as

Guest Post: Agreed Procedures under Art. 25 DSU in the US and EU Steel and Aluminum Disputes

This is a guest post from Caroline Glöckle, a PhD candidate at the University of Passau: The replacement of the US’ Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU with tariff-quota rates on October 31, 2021 has been regarded as a major step in easing the tense

Guest Post: Cyclical Stability

This is a guest post by James Flett of the European Commission. The views expressed are those of the author, not the EU, the EU Commission, or its Legal Service. “Cyclical Stability” Since we seem to be in a cyclical environment, we should perhaps consider whether or not we can

GATT Article III:4 Less Favorable Treatment Issues in the EU - Palm Oil Case

In a series of TBT cases a while ago, the Appellate Body was confronted with defining the similar but not identical legal standards in TBT Agreement Article 2.1 and GATT Article III:4. Roughly speaking, its conclusion was that Article 2.1 required an examination of "regulatory purpose&

U.S. Court Rules that "Gruyere" Is a Generic Term

Periodically, I like to start fights with Europeans on Twitter about geographical indications. It's not a perfect breakdown by country/continent, but it mostly lines up as a "new world" vs. "old world" fight. Recently I started a good one based on a U.

Katherine Tai on WTO Dispute Settlement Reform

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke today at an event hosted by The Institute of International and European Affairs. Here is something she said on WTO dispute settlement reform: On dispute settlement, ... I think that we need to come back to first principles ... . I know there's a

Congress' Sense of the WTO, as Articulated in USICA

I found the "sense of Congress" on various WTO issues in the Senate's United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 bill to be interesting, and it made me wonder about the process for coming up with this part of legislation. Many of these points I&

Biden Administration Thinking about COOL Again

This is from a White House fact sheet from Monday: Issue new “Product of USA” labeling rulesso that consumers can better understand where their meat comes from. already begun A vague statement like this one is going to generate concern that the U.S. will once again try to use

What Was the Purpose and Intent of the USMCA?

This is from the first USMCA Chapter 31 panel report, on Canada -Dairy TRQs, circulated today: c) Purpose and Intent of the Treaty As the Preamble to the Treaty explains, the Parties resolved to promote trade between the signatory states by creating “freer, fairer markets,” and “incentivizing the production and

Applying the Mandatory / Discretionary Distinction to the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument

I've been thinking about the mandatory/discretionary distinction because it came up in the panel report in the recent U.S. - Olives from Spain case (which was adopted by the DSB today, i.e., not appealed into the void by the U.S., which is kind of