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Simon Lester

NAFTA vs. USMCA vs. Something Else

Here is a comment from Ambassador Lighthizer in response to a question from Congressman Panetta at last week's House Ways and Means Committee hearing (starts at 3:23:09), on the choice between NAFTA or USMCA: I think we have clearly made an enormous, probably enormous, improvement in

Congress Asks Lighthizer About the Sunset Clause

I have been suggesting that Congress should clarify its role in the decision required under the USMCA's sunset clause on whether to extend the agreement, and Congressman Steven Horsford came through for me at yesterday's House Ways and Means Committee hearing (starts at 3:37:50)

USTR Lighthizer Comments on NAFTA/USMCA State-State DS Panel Blocking

This is from an exchange between Senator Carper and U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer at a Senate Finance Committee hearing today (starts at 2:03:07): Senator Carper: “My second question revolves around USMCA dispute settlement. The state-to-state dispute settlement system in the new NAFTA continues to allow for panel

Call for Proposals: International Economic Law And Security Interests Conference

From the Amsterdam Center for International Law and the International Economic Law Interest Group of the European Society of International Law: Call for Proposals – International Economic Law and Security Interests – ACIL-ESIL Amsterdam Conference On 14-15 November 2019, the Amsterdam Center for International Law and the International Economic Law Interest Group

Joe Biden on Tariffs and Trump's Trade Strategy

This is from a speech today by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden: America's farmers have been crushed by his tariff war with China. No one knows that better than Iowa. He thinks he's being tough. Well, it's easy to be tough when someone else

Pete Buttigieg on Tariffs and Trump's Trade Strategy

This is from Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg at a recent town hall event: The San Joaquin Valley helps feed not just America, but the world. The products that are grown here are world-class and yet what we’re finding is because of a short-sighted, I can’t even call

Abraham Lincoln on the Tariff

Some of you may have come across this purported quote from Abraham Lincoln before: "I do not know much about the tariff, but I know this much, when we buy manufactured goods abroad, we get the goods and the foreigner gets the money. When we buy the manufactured goods

Guest Post: Linking international trade to climate action and sustainability

This is a guest post from Rafael Leal-Arcas of Queen Mary University of London: London will celebrate in July 2019 the first-ever London climate action week: https://www.e3g.org/news/media-room/mayor-confirms-london-climate-week-in-2019 Linking climate change to international trade has been a topic of academic debate in recent times. In

Should WTO Dispute Settlement Require The Appellate Body To Discuss All Appealed Issues?

I recently read something about the U.S. Judiciary Act of 1925 (the "Judges' Bill"). Here's an explanation: The so-called Judges' Bill of 1925 fundamentally redefined the Supreme Court's role within the federal judiciary by repealing much of the mandatory jurisdiction of

Industrial Policy as a Tool of U.S. Foreign Policy

This is from Jennifer Harris and Todd Tucker in Politico: President Donald Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on Mexico has triggered a political war in Washington, and not the usual partisan kind. Some Republicans are girding to fight their own president, rightly finding it absurd that he would take