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Simon Lester

My Quick Take on the Trade Talk In Last Night's Democratic Debate

The Democratic debates have (thankfully!) been narrowed from 20 to 10 candidates. Many of them had a chance to weigh in on trade policy at the debate last night. Here's what they said: STEPHANOPOULOS: Welcome back. We want to turn now to national security and the foreign policy

The Appellate Body and the Role of Precedent

One of the issues raised by the United States in its critique of the Appellate Body is the role of precedent. How much weight should be given to past cases? Is the Appellate Body being too deferential to its prior rulings? Is there a difference between the "cogent reasons&

Two Points About Dani Rodrik's Latest Piece

Dani Rodrik has a new paper up at NBER, entitled "Putting Global Governance In Its Place." Two things jumped out at me. First, it surprised me that in discussing when regulatory standards are protectionist, he seems unaware of the national treatment principle: Unlike in the case of tariffs

The U.S. Defense in the Section 301 Case (DS543)

USTR has posted its first written submission in the DS543 case, which is China's complaint against the U.S. Section 301 measures. Among other things, there is a GATT Article XX(a) public morals argument. I'll let readers be the judge of all this. I wanted

Beto O'Rourke on Trade Policy

In a new post, he has a lot to say! Here are some snippets: President Trump’s disastrous trade war, which he claims was designed to save American jobs, has done just the opposite. “If I’m elected,” President Trump told workers and businesses, “you won’t lose one plant.

The USMCA Sunset Clause Will Not Help Much with Enforcement

A couple months ago, I pushed back on the idea that the USMCA sunset clause will help with enforcement. Now I see it popping up again. This is from Inside US Trade: ... [Tom] Vilsack also argued that the review function in the new agreement -- a watered-down version of a

News Reports About the U.S.-Japan Trade Deal Raise Some Questions

This is from the Nikkei Asian Review: Japan and the U.S. reached a broad trade deal Saturday, with Tokyo agreeing to lower its tariffs on American beef and pork to levels set by the Trans-Pacific Partnership while letting Washington maintain its 2.5% levy on Japanese autos for now,

Humpty Dumpty and the Illusion of 'Evolutionary Interpretation' in WTO Dispute Settlement

This is a new paper from Graham Cook of the WTO: For those interested, here is a new paper called "Humpty Dumpty and the Illusion of 'Evolutionary Interpretation' in WTO Dispute Settlement" included in Evolutionary Interpretation and International Law (which brings together authors from diverse areas

Can Industrial Policy Be Kept Out of the Wrong Hands?

Todd Tucker has a new paper in which he argues in favor of "industrial policy and planning." I was planning to follow a policy of industriously ignoring it, because I didn't want to call attention to it. Better just not to talk about it, I thought.

Can Party Modifications to DSU Rules on Appellate Review Help with the Appellate Body Crisis?

What is the scope of party modifications to the DSU for particular cases, and could it help with the Appellate Body appointment crisis? It may not be an ideal solution, but take a look at the following example and see if it could be applied to the Appellate Body crisis.