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Confidentiality of legal arguments in WTO dispute settlement

While the panel report in Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (DS512) is best known for its interpretation of Article XXI of GATT 1994, the report also contains an important ruling relating to transparency in WTO dispute settlement.  In this dispute, the EU published its third-party submission on the EU
Jesse Kreier 08 May 2019 1 min read

Guest Post: Trade, Security and Stewardship (Part III): WTO Panels as Factfinders under Article XXI

This is a guest post from Ben Heath, Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at NYU Law This series reconstructs the idea that the Russia — Transit panel report on the GATT security exception was a “constitutional moment” for the WTO. In the first post, I introduced the idea that the report
Simon Lester 07 May 2019 7 min read

What Would a Progressive Trade Policy Look Like?

This is from a Vox interview by Zack Beauchamp with Ganesh Sitaraman, a professor at Vanderbilt and "a longtime adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)": Would you say that, broadly speaking, a progressive foreign policy is critical of free trade as an idea, maybe even open to the
Simon Lester 07 May 2019 1 min read

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: The Divided West and the Battle by and for the Rest

First published on EJIL: Talk! by Anthea Roberts and Taylor St. John* The UNCITRAL debates over ISDS reforms can serve as a real-world laboratory for observing changes in the national interests and policies of different countries, as well as shifts in their geopolitical weight and alignments. As part of a
Anthea Roberts 07 May 2019 11 min read

Guest Post: Trade, Security, and Stewardship (Part II): Making Legal Space to Adjudicate Security Matters

This is a guest post from Ben Heath, Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at NYU Law In Part I of this series, I introduced the idea that the Russia — Transit report embeds a conception of the dispute settlement system as a steward of the WTO rules. As I noted in
Simon Lester 06 May 2019 6 min read

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: Hastening slowly

First published on EJIL: Talk! by Malcolm Langford and Anthea Roberts* UNCITRAL’s Working Group III on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform continues to attract substantial and growing interest. In the first week of April 2019, a record number of states and observers descended on New York to clarify the
Anthea Roberts 06 May 2019 7 min read

Guest Post: Trade, Security, and Stewardship (Part I): The Russia — Transit report’s vision of WTO dispute settlement

This is a guest post from Ben Heath, Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at NYU Law On April 26, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body adopted the first-ever panel report to interpret the “security exception” to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.  This exception allows each member state to take
Simon Lester 05 May 2019 2 min read

The Role of Panel and Appellate Body Rulings as Precedent: Suggestions from Thailand

This is from a draft General Council decision communicated to the WTO by Thailand: E. The precedential effect of previous panel and Appellate Body reports: 16. Under Article 3.2 of the DSU, the role of panels and the Appellate Body is to preserve the rights and obligations of Members
Simon Lester 05 May 2019 1 min read

NAFTA/USMCA State-State Dispute Settlement Panels

This question (asked by Senator Ron Wyden) is from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Questions for the Record for Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, as part of a recent hearing: Question 15 The revised NAFTA includes some clear improvements over the status quo, especially in the Digital Trade chapter. But
Simon Lester 02 May 2019 2 min read

CETA ISDS Upheld by CJEU

In an opinion released today, the European Court of Justice concluded that: "The mechanism for the resolution of disputes between investors and States provided for by the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA) is compatible with EU law." This is from paras. 151-161 of the
Simon Lester 30 Apr 2019 5 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Featured

Can "Geopolitical" Tariffs Be Dealt with through Trade Deals?

Last Friday, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer was asked about Trump's initial suggestion of tariffs related to the goal of taking over Greenland
20 Jan 2026 4 min read

Is Foreign Antitrust Enforcement "Discriminatory" and "Anti-American"?

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing in December on "Anti-American Antitrust: How Foreign Governments Target U.S. Businesses." There was a lot of talk at the hearing about how foreign regulations and regulators "discriminate" against American companies.
05 Jan 2026 5 min read

Pennsylvania Court Finds Mexican Government Guilty of "Discrimination" Due To Its Subsidies

I'm always interested in how courts apply the concept of "discrimination" in the context of international trade, so I've been eagerly awaiting a Pennsylvania court decision in a case against Mexico.
12 Dec 2025 8 min read

Economic Security in Trade Agreements: My Response to Geoff Gertz

Thanks to Geoff for laying out his vision of why economic security should be in trade agreements and how to bring it in. It won't surprise anyone to hear I have some additional comments and questions in response!
04 Dec 2025 10 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part II

This is a guest post from Geoffrey Gertz of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), responding to my post on Economic and National Security Provisions in U.S. Trade Agreements An earlier post made the case for why the United States should bring economic security commitments into trade
01 Dec 2025 3 min read

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