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Simon Lester

Case Studies in Chinese Economic Pressure

Recently, a trade economist asked me if I had come across a list of instances where the Chinese government had put economic pressure on another government in relation to a non-trade issue. I hadn't seen anything, but it seemed worth digging into, so I put an excellent Cato

Food Regulation, Science, Protectionism, and Regulatory Autonomy/Sovereignty

I feel like the role of science in trade agreements doesn't get enough attention, and I'm always excited to see someone trying to raise the profile of this issue. Here is a question from Congressman Earl Blumenauer at last week's House Ways and Means

Enforcement in the China Phase One Deal

In today's Senate Finance Committee hearing on trade policy, Senator Wyden and Ambassador Lighthizer had this exchange (1:01:55): Wyden: Let's go on then to another key enforcement issue, and that's China Phase One. The first stage of dispute resolution, there is basically

No ISDS in U.S. - UK FTA?

Here's a question from Congressman Lloyd Doggett to Ambassador Lighthizer at today's Ways and Means Committee hearing: Doggett: Do you envision in the agreements that you're currently negotiating to maintain the progress that we made in the USMCA with regard to dispute resolution so

Guest Post: The European Commission attempts to rein in BRI subsidies

This is a guest post from trade lawyer Victor Crochet: On 15 June 2020, in Regulation 2020/776, the European Commission decided to countervail financial contributions granted to an Egyptian entity by Chinese public bodies. To reach this conclusion, the Commission explained that the government of the exporting country, in

Who's Going To Pay For Supporting The MPIA?

Paragraph 7 of the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement Pursuant to Article 25 of the DSU says: The participating Members envisage that appeal arbitrators will be provided with appropriate administrative and legal support, which will offer the necessary guarantees of quality and independence, given the nature of the responsibilities involved.

Webinar — USMCA’s Entry into Force: Prospects and Challenges for North American Trade

This is from the Baker Institute for Public Policy (link here): Although most observers agree that the renegotiation process of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was more complicated than it had to be and that the final text is less than perfect, at the end of the day

The Last Appellate Body Report (For Now)

The Appellate Body circulated its report in the Australia - Plain Packaging case today. I've only just started reading, but this passage jumped out at me: 6.48. The sheer volume of the appellants' claims under Article 11 of the DSU in these appellate proceedings is unprecedented.

What Would a Joe Biden Trade Policy Look Like?

It's hard to know when we will get back to the policy (or, at the least, political) debates that are part of U.S. presidential campaigns. We were distracted by a pandemic, and then by protests against systemic racism and related behavior by police, so there hasn'

The First MPIA Appeals?

The WTO has just posted three sets of agreed procedures for arbitration under DSU Article 25, that is to say, procedures for appeals through the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). The cases involved are Canada - Sale of Wine (DS537), Costa Rica - Avocados (DS524), and Canada - Aircraft