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Asking China To Liberalize More at the WTO

Back in 2018, I wrote a piece with my colleague Huan Zhu arguing that China had become much wealthier since it joined the WTO, and therefore should take on greater liberalization commitments: With greater wealth comes greater responsibility. Even if it continues to maintain its “developing” status, as China’s
Simon Lester 22 Jan 2026 4 min read

Guest Post: President Trump Cannot Legally Impose Tariffs Using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974

If the Supreme Court strikes down nonreciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Trump Administration reportedly plans to re-impose some of the tariffs by citing authorities in other laws.
Simon Lester 21 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
Simon Lester 20 Jan 2026 4 min read

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development

This is from the editors of the Trade, Law and Development journal: The Board of Editors of TL&D is pleased to invite original, unpublished manuscripts for publication in the General Issue of the Journal (Vol. XVII, No. 2) in the form of ‘Articles’, ‘Notes’, ‘Comments’ and ‘Book Reviews’
Simon Lester 18 Jan 2026 1 min read

Katherine Tai on WTO Dispute Settlement Reform

Back in November, former U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai spoke on a panel at Harvard (I just stumbled on the video recently). Towards the end, she responded as follows to a question about the Appellate Body appointments crisis (1:08:32 of the video): On the Appellate Body, ... if
Simon Lester 16 Jan 2026 4 min read

Essays in Honour of Valerie Hughes: Appellate Review, WTO Secretariat Handling FTA Disputes, and Much More

Nicolas Lamp recently put together a book honoring the great Valerie Hughes: "Reckoning and Renewal: The World Trade Organization and Its Dispute Settlement System at 30, Essays in Honour of Valerie Hughes."
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2026 3 min read

Some Interesting Provisions in the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement DS Chapter

We appear to be moving closer to a completed EU-Mercosur trade agreement, with the European Council announcing last week that it had "adopted two decisions authorising the signature of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and of the Interim Trade Agreement (iTA) between the EU and Mercosur."
Simon Lester 12 Jan 2026 3 min read

2025 Had the Most WTO Complaints Since 2019

Despite the ongoing crisis with the WTO Appellate Body, which has been only partially solved by the creation of the MPIA, 2025 saw a bit of an increase in the filing of requests for consultations under the DSU.
Simon Lester 08 Jan 2026 1 min read

Guest Post: Threat-Based Trade Remedies in the EU: Increasing Use Amid Urgent Climate Objectives

This is a guest post from Florin D. Dascalescu, Senior legal counsel at the European Investment Fund (EIF) Introduction This post is based on my recent article published in the Journal of World Trade (JWT),[i] which examines several legal concepts by using as an example the EU anti-subsidy
Simon Lester 06 Jan 2026 8 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
Simon Lester 05 Jan 2026 5 min read

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What Does the Blue Wave Mean for U.S. Trade Policy?

Tariffs and trade policy were one element that played a role in last night's result. So what impact will Democratic control of Congress have on the administration's trade policy going forward?
04 Nov 2026 4 min read

A Proposal To Expand Judicial Review over Section 232 and 301 Tariffs

For many people in Washington these days, having U.S. trade actions judged by international tribunals on their consistency with trade agreements is controversial. But what if that judgment of consistency could be done by US courts instead?
01 Nov 2026 3 min read

What Kind of Discrimination Should Section 338 Target?

A couple weeks ago, the U.S. International Trade Commission asked for public comments on implementing Section 338.
25 Sep 2026 5 min read

Jake Sullivan Wants To Build On the Biden Administration's Industrial Policy

In a recent article, Jake Sullivan makes the case for continuing on with the Biden administration's economic policies, arguing for an even broader and more comprehensive industrial policy than what we saw under Biden.
13 Sep 2026 6 min read

How Difficult Will It Be Politically To Remove Trump's Tariffs?

Heather Hurlburt, who was the Chief of Staff for U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai from 2022-2024, recently poured some cold water on the idea that Trump's tariffs might be removed quickly after he is out of office.
12 Aug 2026 3 min read

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