International Economic Law and Policy Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • WorldTradeLaw.net
Sign in Subscribe

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!
Simon Lester 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
Simon Lester 01 Dec 2025 3 min read

Tiptoeing into the Polycene:[1] Launch of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade

On November 7, during the Belém Climate Summit, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil launched the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT).  The IFCCT is a recognition of the need to integrate trade policy and climate policy.  It is a “space for dialog” intended to “bring
Joel Trachtman 26 Nov 2025 2 min read

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

Thanks to Simon for kickstarting a debate on the prospect of bringing economic security provisions into trade agreements, and for allowing me to respond here.
Simon Lester 26 Nov 2025 4 min read

Symposium on Tariffs and Trade Wars

Law professor Csongor István Nagy sends the following: Jointly organized by the ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, the University of Galway’s LLM in International and Comparative Business Law, and the Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies, this hybrid symposium on December 2, 2025 offers insight into
Simon Lester 24 Nov 2025 1 min read

Exemplars vs. Precedents in WTO Law

As most of this blog's readers are aware, there has been controversy over the "permissible interpretation" language in the legal standard of review in AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii).
Simon Lester 20 Nov 2025 4 min read

Should Congress Codify Trump's Trade Deals?

For the purposes of domestic law, the trade deals negotiated by the Trump administration have been concluded as executive agreements, and there is no indication that the administration wants Congress to approve them via statute. Some members of Congress have raised this possibility though.
Simon Lester 17 Nov 2025 4 min read

Impact of the October 2025 US-China Detente On United States-Mexico Trade

On October 29, 2025, President Trump and Chinese Communist Party Chairman Li concluded a limited detente in their ongoing trade war. (U.S-China Trade Agreement) This trade deal, largely a return to the status quo in February-April 2025 is scheduled to continue for a year. The compromise was
David A. Gantz 13 Nov 2025 11 min read

Reviewing the USMCA

Pursuant to the review of the USMCA provided for in Article 34.7, USTR has requested comments and is holding a hearing. USTR's comments portal shows 1,515 comments submitted, so a lot of people had things to say!
Simon Lester, Inu Manak 12 Nov 2025 3 min read

Trump's Cambodia Trade Deal, Arms Exports, and the Role of Non-Trade Concessions

In this post, I'm going to talk about some aspects of the recent U.S. trade deal with Cambodia that I haven't heard raised yet, including the following questions: (1) Is the decision to allow U.S. arms exports to Cambodia pursuant to this deal designed to boost U.S. manufacturing?
Simon Lester 10 Nov 2025 4 min read

Sign up for email notifications

jamie@example.com
Subscribe

Featured

Why Section 338 Does Not Work in a GATT/WTO World: Lessons from Trade Law History

On July 21, 2026, President Trump exercised his authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (hereinafter Section 338) to impose the maximum amount of additional tariffs (fifty per cent) on Canadian cars, alcohol, and dairy, owing to his determination of Canada’s discriminatory treatment of US exports.
23 Jul 2026 10 min read

EU WTO Reform Proposal Seeks To Extend Accession-Based State Enterprise Rules To All Members

In a new WTO reform paper entitled "Further Reflections on Disciplines, Subsidies and Industrial policy," the EU argues for stronger WTO disciplines on the behavior of state enterprises.
17 Jul 2026 5 min read

Governments Make Their Case Against Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs

Last month, USTR made a determination in its Section 301 investigation into "Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure To Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced With Forced Labor."
10 Jul 2026 5 min read

How Should the EU Get Tough with China? Unilateral Action vs. WTO Complaints

I've seen several recent calls for the EU to get tougher in its economic relations with China, along with arguments that it has been too slow to act against the Chinese economic threat.
06 Jul 2026 4 min read

Trump Administration Decides Not To Extend USMCA for Another Term: What Does That Mean Exactly?

Today, as part of the first joint review of the USMCA, the three governments held a virtual meeting.
01 Jul 2026 4 min read

Topics

2008 Presidential Election

25 posts

2012 Republican Primary

6 posts

2020 Democratic Primary

22 posts

2020 Presidential Campaign

6 posts

2024 Presidential Campaign

9 posts

2024 Republican Primary

9 posts

Announcements

28 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

60 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

61 posts

Domestic Trade Powers

10 posts

Dormant Commerce Clause

3 posts

DSU 25 Interim Appeals

43 posts

DSU Article 11

13 posts

Economic Integration

8 posts

Economic Statecraft

12 posts

EU-China Trade Relations

3 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

7 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

14 posts

FTAs - General

22 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

9 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

20 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

19 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

19 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

38 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

62 posts

Non-Market Economies

7 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

19 posts

Precedent

25 posts

Public Views of Trade

9 posts

Robert Lighthizer

19 posts

Russia Trade Sanctions

17 posts

Sanctions

15 posts

Section 301

17 posts

Sovereignty

10 posts

SPS/TBT

5 posts

Standards of Review

7 posts

State Enterprises

9 posts

Sub-National Trade Issues

5 posts

Subsidies

83 posts

Tariffs

4 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

7 posts

Trade Agreements

24 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

21 posts

Trade and Environment

119 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

9 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

26 posts

Trade and Labor

28 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

35 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

14 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

10 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

64 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

9 posts

Trump Administration

60 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

32 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

60 posts

US-China Trade Relations

29 posts

USMCA

20 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

34 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

25 posts

USTR

16 posts

WTO - General

25 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

178 posts

WTO DS Reform

13 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

31 posts

Zeroing

29 posts
Powered by Ghost