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The Origins of the "Cogent Reasons" Approach to the Precedential Value of Appellate Body Reports

The United States has made it clear that it objects to the Appellate Body's view that a panel must follow a prior Appellate Body interpretation unless the panel has “cogent reasons” for departing from that interpretation. One of the longer U.S. explanations of its position is here.
Simon Lester 24 Jun 2019 14 min read

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
Simon Lester 24 Jun 2019 1 min read

China NME case suspended

Since no one else has raised it yet on this blog, I'll note that the WTO Panel hearing China's case against the EU regarding the use of a non-market economy methodology in anti-dumping cases suspended its work on 14 June (DS516/13). Such suspensions come at
Jesse Kreier 20 Jun 2019 1 min read

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)
Simon Lester 20 Jun 2019 2 min read

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
Simon Lester 18 Jun 2019 5 min read

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
Simon Lester 17 Jun 2019 1 min read

India, safeguards and developing Member status

These days, when issues of justiciability or unilateralism arise, the security exception in Article XXI of GATT 1994 comes immediately to mind. However, these issues can arise in very different contexts, such as safeguards. The Agreement on Safeguards exempts small suppliers of a product from developing Members from safeguard measures,
Jesse Kreier 16 Jun 2019 1 min read

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
Simon Lester 11 Jun 2019 3 min read

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
Simon Lester 11 Jun 2019 1 min read

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development

This is from the Board of Editors at Trade, Law and Development: The Board of Editors of Trade, Law and Development is pleased to invite original, unpublished manuscripts for publication in the Winter ’19 Issue of the Journal (Vol. 11, No. 2) in the form of Articles, Notes, Comments and
Inu Manak 11 Jun 2019 1 min read

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The Section 301 Surge Continues: Investigating the Adoption/Enforcement/Administration of Forced Labor Import Bans

This Section 301 investigation intends to pressure all sixty named trade partners (even, inexplicably, including Canada and Mexico) to adopt similar enforcement procedures. This announcement is highly problematic for the four reasons I address below.
16 Mar 2026 4 min read

The Section 301 Surge Is Upon Us: Investigating Excess Capacity and Production

The first of a large batch of expected Section 301 investigations has arrived, as USTR announced yesterday that it was initiating investigations on acts, policies, and practices of various countries/economies "relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors."
12 Mar 2026 3 min read

Debunking the "Hyperglobalization" Trade Policy Myth

Policy is often shaped by narratives, and recently there has been a bipartisan effort to create a narrative that, starting in the early 1990s, globalization and free trade went too far.
03 Mar 2026 8 min read

Guest Post: Are President Trump’s New Section 122 Tariffs Legal?

This is a guest post from Bryan Riley and Joe Bishop-Henchman. Bryan is Director of the Free Trade Initiative at the National Taxpayers Union; Joe is Executive Vice President at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation President Trump has issued new 10% tariffs, shortly after raised to 15%, based on Section
24 Feb 2026 6 min read

Section 122 as a (Partial) Replacement for the IEEPA Tariffs

Apparently, this is the era of dusting off old international economic policy statutes and figuring out what they mean and how they work. After the Supreme Court's ruling today in Learning Resources, holding that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs," we are now
20 Feb 2026 5 min read

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