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Some Questions About "Gap-Filling"

In its statement at the November 21 DSB meeting, the U.S. responds as follows to China's argument that it should be able to "include persons other than government officials" in consultations under the DSU: 24. RIGHT OF A MEMBER TO DECIDE THE COMPOSITION OF ITS
Simon Lester 25 Nov 2018 2 min read

Guest Post: The U.S. and China Rivalry: Geo-Political Context of Free Trade Agreements

This is a guest post from Bashar H. Malkawi (Dean and Professor of Law, University of Sharjah) International trade constitutes a vital lynchpin of the global governance architecture with a staggering $20 Trillion of annual trade. The global trade order consists of trade policies and systems – in particular free trade
Simon Lester 21 Nov 2018 4 min read

The Geoeconomic World Order

Here is the opening of a new blog post from Anthea Roberts, Henrique Choer Moraes, and Victor Ferguson over on Lawfare: We appear to be entering into a new geoeconomic world order, characterized by great power rivalry between the United States and China and the clear use of economic tools
Simon Lester 19 Nov 2018 1 min read

GATT Article XX and non-GATT WTO Agreements

Last week's Thailand - Cigarettes (Philippines), Article 21.5 panel report considered the issue of whether GATT Article XX can provide a defense to claims under the Customs Valuation Agreement: 7.732. Thailand argues that, insofar as the Charges are inconsistent with the provisions of the CVA, such
Simon Lester 19 Nov 2018 7 min read

More WTO Complaints Against China, Including an "Adverse Effects" Nullification or Impairment Claim

Along with Jim Bacchus and Huan Zhu, I have a new Cato paper out today on using the WTO to make China more market-oriented. Some of the main points are: -- China's economic ambition is good. The world is better off with a wealthier China. -- However, China
Simon Lester 15 Nov 2018 7 min read

More on How to Determine Whether a Measure is a Safeguard Measure

In the India - Iron and Steel Products panel report circulated last Wednesday, the panel explained that it would consider the question of whether the measure at issue is a safeguard measure: 7.30. In this dispute, most of the claims have been raised by Japan under Article XIX of
Simon Lester 11 Nov 2018 3 min read

Investment Arbitration Workshop in Oslo

The folks at Pluricourts asked me to post the following: Call for papers: The ISDS Academic Forum, together with PluriCourts Centre for Excellence (LEGINVEST) and Forum for Law & Social Science at the University of Oslo, will host a workshop on reforming international investment arbitration in Oslo 1-2 February 2019.
Simon Lester 11 Nov 2018 1 min read

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: Moving to Reform Options … the Politics

First published on EJIL: Talk! In the last blog, I provided an update on the UNCITRAL process, including the consensus decision from Vienna last week to move forward to consider possible reforms of investor-state arbitration. This decision is very significant. But to get a sense of how this decision was
Anthea Roberts 08 Nov 2018 7 min read

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: Moving to Reform Options … the Process

First published on EJIL Talk! Last week has been described as a watershed moment for ISDS reform. During a meeting in Vienna, states decided by consensus on the desirability of developing reforms in UNCITRAL with respect to investor-state arbitration. States now have an opportunity to make proposals for a work
Anthea Roberts 07 Nov 2018 5 min read

A Watershed Moment for ISDS Reform

Last week marked a watershed moment for the movement to reform investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Meeting in Vienna, Delegations to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III (WGIII) agreed to work multilaterally to reform the resolution of investment disputes. Delegations agreed to focus on responding
Julian Arato 04 Nov 2018 4 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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