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

Guest Post: How to retaliate against looming Trump tariffs

This is a guest post from Simon Schropp (BRG and George Washington University) and Kornel Mahlstein (Sidley Austin LLP) Eight weeks into the Trump Administration it appears that the “Trump tariffs” on America’s closest allies are not mere posture. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on March 18 that the
Simon Lester 31 Mar 2025 5 min read

The U.S. Argument that GATT Article XX Applies to Non-GATT Goods Agreements (Including the SCM Agreement)

In its first written submission in the U.S. - IRA Tax Credits WTO dispute (DS623), the U.S. makes a number of arguments people might find interesting. First, there's a new invocation of the GATT Article XXI security exception related to the exclusion under the Internal Revenue
Simon Lester 30 Mar 2025 6 min read

Passing of Steve Charnovitz

I was saddened to hear of the passing this week of the great trade law scholar Steve Charnovitz, a professor at GW law school. The full list of his scholarly works can be found at his personal website. Steve was also one of the founding bloggers here at the IELP
Simon Lester 26 Mar 2025 1 min read

Questions about Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs

President Trump and his trade team have been pointing to April 2 as the big day for his reciprocal tariffs. At this point, I have lots of questions, but few answers, about what to expect from all this. Here are some of my questions: - Which statutes will they use
Simon Lester 23 Mar 2025 3 min read

WTO Dispute Settlement and Certainty

At the always excellent Georgetown Law International Trade Update last week, there was a "Fireside Chat" between Demetrios Marantis (former Deputy U.S. Trade Rep. and acting U.S. Trade Rep.) and Biden administration Ambassador to the WTO Maria Pagan. They covered a lot of ground, and on
Simon Lester 19 Mar 2025 2 min read

Politicized AD/CVD vs. Neutral WTO Adjudication As a Way To Address Unfair/Non-Market/Protectionist Practices

In this post, I'm going to talk about an assumption that I think is held by many people (in the U.S. and elsewhere): AD/CVDs are a good way to respond to unfair/non-market/protectionist practices in other countries. I'm going to call that assumption
Simon Lester 16 Mar 2025 4 min read

The USMCA Review (If the USMCA Survives!) Needs To Address the National Security Loophole

I don't know if the USMCA is going to survive all the U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along with the Canadian and Mexican retaliation. Will the agreement make it to the USMCA review next year? We'll see. If we do make it though, I
Simon Lester 13 Mar 2025 2 min read

Will a "Zombie USMCA" Survive the Tariff Onslaught?

With all the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canada and Mexico (under IEEPA already, under Section 232 soon, maybe under Section 301, and various other possibilities as well), and with the Canadian and Mexican tariff retaliation, how much is left of the USMCA? In economic terms, the creation
Simon Lester 09 Mar 2025 2 min read

Trump on Reciprocal Tariffs

In last night's address to Congress, Trump said the following about reciprocal tariffs: Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada
Simon Lester 05 Mar 2025 3 min read

Free Speech and Trade Policy

In my last post, I briefly mentioned this point about free speech from Trump's recent memo on "Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties": The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative shall
Simon Lester 25 Feb 2025 2 min read

About

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Expert commentary on the law, politics and economics of international trade and investment

Sign up for email notifications

[email protected]
Subscribe

Featured

Jamieson Greer on the 30 Year Aberration in U.S. Trade Policy

When he was in Davos last week for the World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer talked a bit about U.S. trade policy history and described a recent period during which, in his view, U.S. trade policy shifted away from tariffs/protectionism and towards free trade.
29 Jan 2026 6 min read

Is this the end of MFN as we know it? The EU submission on WTO reform and the meaning of development

With the release of the EU submission on WTO reform, it has become clear that the MFN principle’s central role within the WTO architecture is under challenge. As a keystone, it risks the entire bridge falling. Even if the foundations are retained but deemed outdated or unusable, and a
23 Jan 2026 3 min read

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

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

25 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

55 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

8 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

5 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

12 posts

FTAs - General

21 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

8 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

15 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

18 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

37 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

59 posts

Non-Market Economies

5 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

16 posts

Precedent

25 posts

Public Views of Trade

9 posts

Rare Earths

1 post

Robert Lighthizer

17 posts

Russia Trade Sanctions

17 posts

Sanctions

15 posts

Sovereignty

9 posts

Speech

1 post

SPS/TBT

5 posts

Standards of Review

7 posts

State Enterprises

7 posts

Sub-National Trade Issues

5 posts

Subsidies

83 posts

Tariffs

2 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

16 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

20 posts

Trade and Environment

117 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

8 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

25 posts

Trade and Labor

23 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

32 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

9 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

9 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

62 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

45 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

29 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

58 posts

US-China Trade Relations

26 posts

USMCA

18 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

18 posts

USTR

15 posts

WTO - General

20 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

175 posts

WTO DS Reform

12 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts

Zeroing

29 posts
Powered by Ghost