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Simon Lester

The Official Announcement of Biden's Nomination of Katherine Tai

Here was President-Elect Biden's introduction of Katherine Tai as his nominee for U.S. Trade Representative (starts at 14:42): For the United States Trade Representative, I nominate Katherine Tai, a trusted trade expert, a dedicated public servant who knows government, and who has spent her career levelling

Katherine Tai Will Be the Next U.S. Trade Representative

Reports indicate that Katherine Tai, Chief Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, is Biden's choice for U.S. Trade Representative. About a month ago, I wrote the following: the job of the next U.S. Trade Representative will be a serious challenge. The person who

The First USMCA Complaint

The first USMCA consultations request is here. Not surprisingly, it relates to Canadian dairy TRQs, a frequent source of trade irritation. Is there a violation? I have no idea! Some of the issues seem factual in nature. For example, there is a claim under this provision: 11. A Party administering

Specificity in DOC Currency Undervaluation Findings

A couple weeks ago, Jesse Kreier wrote about the Commerce Department's decision to treat currency undervaluation as a countervailable subsidy in a case against tires from Viet Nam. As he explained it, one aspect of the Commerce Department's reasoning was related to the specificity of the

Katherine Tai on Various Trade Policy Issues: China, Supply Chains, A Biden Administration Trade Agenda, USMCA, WTO, ISDS

It's hard to know what to make of the reporting on who might be the next U.S. Trade Representative, which has mentioned a wide range of possible candidates, but I've seen two Politico articles describing support for Katherine Tai, the Chief Trade Counsel for the

Webinar on the European Commission White Paper on Foreign Subsidies

Here are the details for a webinar presented by the Centre of European Law, King’s College London & George Washington University Law School (register here): Webinar – Towards a European Economic Sovereignty? Some reflections on the Commission White Paper on Foreign Subsidies - 1 December 2020 The European Commission is

Deborah Elms on the Absence of ISDS, Prospects for a Secretariat, and Dispute Settlement in RCEP

There has been lots of talk about RCEP these past few days. For Asian trade issues, I always listen closely to what Deborah Elms has to say. She just did an episode of the Trade Talks Podcast on RCEP, and I wanted to highlight three things she said there. First,

A Few Interesting Aspects of the RCEP Legal Text

The RCEP legal text has just been released. I don't have a sense at this point of how much liberalization is involved in this agreement, but skimming through the various chapters, I found a number of tidbits worth noting. 1. There's an interesting "general review&

The Biden-Harris USTR Agency Review Team

The Biden-Harris transition team just posted agency review teams here. They describe these teams as follows: Agency review teams are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power, and preparing for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and their cabinet to hit the ground

Trade Policy in a Biden Administration: Online Event this Thursday

There are sure to be lots of events coming on trade policy in a Biden administration. I'll be hosting a Cato one on Thursday, November 12, at 12:30 p.m. EST. The link is here. Here is the description: Trade Policy in a Biden Administration: Back to