International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

New GATT Dispute Database from the WTO

The WTO Secretariat has just put out a cool new database on GATT disputes. The official press release is here: The database allows users to search for information relating to the 317 GATT disputes brought by contracting parties from 1948 to 1995. The information provided includes documents such as consultation

The Role of Women in U.S.-China Trade Negotiations

I found this question and answer from CNBC's Kayla Tausche to U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai interesting: Tausche: In the direct talks that took place during the prior administration, the only women that were at the table were the translators. Do you fear that because of Chinese

The Biden Administration's China Trade Policy

I wrote a piece over at China Trade Monitor (still free for now!) on Katherine Tai's speech from yesterday and the Biden administration's developing China trade policy. Here's the intro and conclusions: After months of saying that they are reviewing their China trade policy,

What Would Happen if WTO Members Voted on AB Appointments?

Henry Gao has been making the case that WTO Members should have a vote on appointing AB Members, as a way to get around the U.S. block. I don't think that's likely to happen, but just for fun, I ran a totally unscientific Twitter poll

Guest Post: Eco Oro Minerals Corp. v. Republic of Colombia: some thoughts on an investor’s due diligence

This is a guest post from law professor Yulia Levashova: The investor’s due diligence has become a significant factor in determining whether the legitimate expectations based on the stability of a regulatory framework of an investor give rise to protection under the FET standard. According to numerous recent decisions

Guest Post: Appointing Appellate Body Members by Majority – A Draft Article IX:2 Interpretation

This is a guest post from law professor Geraldo Vidigal (see also my totally unscientific twitter poll related to this issue): With the Biden administration having continued the previous administration’s stance of blocking all appointments to the Appellate Body, the issue of the appointment members by majority is back

Guest Post: Proof that WTO subsidy rules are out-of-date in the climate change age

This is a guest post from trade lawyer Bixuan Wu of the Hiways law firm: Last December, the US Commerce Department ruled that, under the EU's Emission Trading System, extra free allowances received by EU producers with high carbon leakage risks constituted a countervailable subsidy. Soon after the

A Sixth Agreement To Use the MPIA

I previously noted the five WTO disputes where agreed procedures between the parties for using the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) have been circulated (as well as an agreement to use Article 25 arbitration outside the context of the MPIA). There is now a sixth dispute, China - Canola

RCEP's Airtight Data Localization Security Exception

Security exceptions in international economic law agreements tend to be more expansive than other exceptions, but over on Twitter Geraldo Vidigal pointed out recently that the RCEP security exception for data localization measures has an element that seems to go further than usual, giving any government that invokes the exception

Call for Venues for the SIEL Biennial Global Conference in 2023

From the SIEL: The Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) is seeking a suitable venue and institutional host for the Eighth Biennial SIEL Global Conference, to be held in July 2023. The Call for Venues is open to all institutions (including consortia or collaborations of institutions) active in the field