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The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: Withdrawing from the New NAFTA

The original NAFTA withdrawal provision, Article 2205, said this: A Party may withdraw from this Agreement six months after it provides written notice of withdrawal to the other Parties. If a Party withdraws, the Agreement shall remain in force for the remaining Parties. The new NAFTA withdrawal provision, Article 34.
Simon Lester 03 Oct 2018 1 min read

Guest Post: The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: Labor

This is a guest post from law prof Kathleen Claussen: The USTR fact sheet released in late August previewed that the USMCA labor provisions would be the “strongest of any trade agreement.”  To evaluate this statement, rather than look at the agreements in force or the status quo on the
Simon Lester 02 Oct 2018 3 min read

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: Non-Violation Claims

As part of a quest to find the most obscure aspect of the new NAFTA, I point you to the scope of non-violation claims. This is from the new NAFTA: Article 31.2: Scope 1. Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, the dispute settlement provisions of this Chapter shall apply:
Simon Lester 02 Oct 2018 2 min read

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: Limits on FTAs with NMEs

Article 32.10 of the new NAFTA says: Article 32.10: Non-Market Country FTA 1. At least 3 months prior to commencing negotiations, a Party shall inform the other Parties of its intention to commence free trade agreement negotiations with a non-market country. For purposes of this Article, a non-market
Simon Lester 02 Oct 2018 2 min read

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: State-State Dispute Settlement

Inu and I had a recent article in which we explained how NAFTA Chapter 20 state-state dispute settlement hasn't been working because of problems with appointing panelists (in large part because the roster of panelists was not filled). It doesn't look like this article made much
Simon Lester 01 Oct 2018 1 min read

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: Investment Protection/ISDS

As has been expected, in the new NAFTA deal, the Trump administration has significantly scaled back the investment protection/ISDS provisions, which are now found in Chapter 14. One way to think about what happened is that there is no more general recourse to ISDS, but there are three ways
Simon Lester 01 Oct 2018 2 min read

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (AKA the New NAFTA) Trade Deal: The Sunset Clause

The text of what is being called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has been released. It would be much easier to call this agreement NAFTA, rather than some unwieldy new name that someone thought was preferable for public relations purposes. We'll see what practice develops here. I will
Simon Lester 01 Oct 2018 3 min read

Is This The New US Approach to FTAs?

From the White House: Joint Statement of the United States and Japan 1.  On the occasion of our Summit Meeting in New York on September 26, 2018, we, President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, affirmed the importance of a strong, stable, and mutually beneficial trade and economic
Simon Lester 26 Sep 2018 2 min read

Appointment of Panelists under the Modernised EU-Mexico Trade Agreement

This is from the dispute settlement chapter of the Modernisation of the Trade part of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement: Article X.5 Composition of a Panel 1. A panel shall be composed of three panellists.     2. Within [X] days from the date of receipt of the written request for the
Simon Lester 26 Sep 2018 3 min read

What Is the Value of the Section 232 Auto Tariff Carveout?

In a side letter to the U.S.-Mexico agreement that is part of the NAFTA renegotiation, it appears that the U.S. has agreed that if it imposes tariffs on auto imports pursuant to Section 232, a certain amount of Mexican auto imports will be exempt. (You could also
Simon Lester 21 Sep 2018 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Featured

Comparing the Enforcement Provisions in the New U.S. Trade Deals

Building on the comparison of trade agreement provisions in my last post, let's take a look at the "enforcement" provisions of the six agreements for which the legal texts have been published.
11 Feb 2026 3 min read

Comparing the Economic and National Security Provisions in the New U.S. Trade Deals

By my count, we now have the legal texts of five Trump administration trade agreements. Will there be enforcement actions under these agreements?
09 Feb 2026 4 min read

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

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