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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

China and the WTO E-Commerce Talks

In a recent communication related to the Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce in Davos, China said the following: 4.1. Along with the new opportunities provided by electronic commerce, issues such as cyber security, data safety and privacy are increasingly highlighted, bringing unprecedented security risks and regulatory challenges to Members.
Simon Lester 25 Apr 2019 1 min read

The Role of Appellate Body Rulings as Precedent: Suggestions from Japan and Australia

This is from a communication from Japan and Australia: 2  DRAFT DECISION The Dispute Settlement Body, Having regard to paragraph 1 of Article 2 and Article 17 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU), Affirming that recommendations and rulings made by the DSB are
Simon Lester 24 Apr 2019 1 min read

Call for Papers-- The Law of the Blue Economy: International and South Asian Perspectives

This is from the South Asia International Economic Law Network (SAIELN): The South Asia International Economic Law Network (SAIELN) is pleased to announce a call for papers for its biennial conference on “The Law of the Blue Economy: International and South Asian Perspectives”. The network is a freestanding body associated
Inu Manak 24 Apr 2019 1 min read

Toning Down WTO Precedent

This is from last week's China - TRQs panel report: 6.20. The United States requests that the reference to a "well-established principle in WTO case law" in paragraph 7.212 be deleted, since it could be "misunderstood as indicating that prior panel and appellate
Simon Lester 23 Apr 2019 1 min read

Contracting Party vs. Member

This is from last week's China - TRQs panel report: 6.18. The United States requests that the term "contracting party" be replaced by the term "Member" in paragraph 7.187.120 China has not commented on this request. We note that the term
Simon Lester 23 Apr 2019 1 min read

Guest Post: Might WTO Law Prevent Climate Change Mitigation Affecting Agricultural Trade?

This is a guest post from Christian Häberli of the World Trade Institute The Great Taboo – Or will somebody please tell me where I am wrong? The multilateral trading system is presently facing what some observers call an existential crisis with possibly dramatic consequences. So much so that nobody finds
Simon Lester 21 Apr 2019 4 min read

New Book on EU Trade Law

U.S. trade policy is grabbing most of the headlines these days, but EU trade policy has seen some big changes as well. Rafael Leal-Arcas sends the following summary of his new book on EU Trade Law: This book is an attempt to do a thorough chronological analysis of the
Simon Lester 21 Apr 2019 1 min read

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Is There No Going Back on Trade? What Is the Path Forward? A Response to Lighthizer

Former U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has a new essay in Foreign Affairs, and I have some thoughts. I'm going to start with his brief big picture points on the direction of U.S. trade policy, and then go through a couple of the specific concepts he emphasizes.
27 Apr 2026 6 min read

The Section 301 Excess Capacity Investigation Needs Less Madness, More Method

Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s emergency tariffs under IEEPA  unconstitutional, the administration scrambled to rebuild its tariff wall. While the announcement of Section 122 tariffs immediately following the ruling will provide a temporary patch, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office quickly began to utilize another
24 Apr 2026 6 min read

War Tariffs

This is a co-authored post by Kathleen Claussen and Tim Meyer. Last week, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing new tariffs of 50 percent of the value of any product coming from any country that sells weapons or provides military aid to Iran. Some commentators questioned
14 Apr 2026 5 min read

USMCA Review and Extension Predictions

When the idea of an expiration clause was suggested during the NAFTA renegotiation, I was against it from the start, and Inu and I wrote a pretty critical piece about it at the time. A review is great, we said, let's definitely have reviews, and there are plenty of ways to do that.
08 Apr 2026 5 min read

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

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