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Some Thoughts on Addressing Non-Market Policies and Practices through WTO Disputes

Earlier this week, the U.S. submitted a communication to the WTO entitled "On WTO Reform." There are a number of issues worth talking about in the document, but I want to highlight the sub-section on "Overcapacity and Overconcentration of Production."
Simon Lester 17 Dec 2025 4 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.
Simon Lester 12 Dec 2025 8 min read

Jamieson Greer on the Rules-Based International Order

At an Atlantic Council event yesterday, Greg Ip of the WSJ asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about how he sees the "rules-based international order" in the trading system these days
Simon Lester 11 Dec 2025 3 min read

Who Will be the MC (Master of Ceremony) of MC14?

1. The 2026 Version of the Bicycle Theory for Trade A few decades back, in separate publications, Fred C. Bergsten, and Jagdish Bhagwati referred to the “bicycle” theory of trade. In short, the idea was that steady (continuous) progress towards freer trade is essential. If not, political forces favoring protectionism
Petros C. Mavroidis 09 Dec 2025 6 min read

A New Central Organizing Principle for U.S. Trade

In the US Trade Regime class I teach with Matt Nicely, our unit on the regime’s import side has traditionally begun with a review of how the United States classifies trading partners … the “ordinary,” “preferred” and “rogue” categories associated with columns 1a, 1b and 2 (respectively) of the Harmonized
John Magnus 08 Dec 2025 2 min read

Three Explanations for the Foreign Investment Pledges

In recent months, President Trump and the Trump administration have been touting a $20 trillion or so figure that they say foreign companies/governments have pledged to invest in the U.S. I've had trouble figuring out what to make of all this, but I have three theories
Simon Lester 08 Dec 2025 4 min read

Economic Security in Trade Agreements: My Response to Geoff Gertz

Thanks to Geoff for laying out his vision of why economic security should be in trade agreements and how to bring it in. It won't surprise anyone to hear I have some additional comments and questions in response!
Simon Lester 04 Dec 2025 10 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part II

This is a guest post from Geoffrey Gertz of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), responding to my post on Economic and National Security Provisions in U.S. Trade Agreements An earlier post made the case for why the United States should bring economic security commitments into trade
Simon Lester 01 Dec 2025 3 min read

Tiptoeing into the Polycene:[1] Launch of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade

On November 7, during the Belém Climate Summit, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil launched the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT).  The IFCCT is a recognition of the need to integrate trade policy and climate policy.  It is a “space for dialog” intended to “bring
Joel Trachtman 26 Nov 2025 2 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part I

Thanks to Simon for kickstarting a debate on the prospect of bringing economic security provisions into trade agreements, and for allowing me to respond here.
Simon Lester 26 Nov 2025 4 min read

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Featured

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

Why Section 338 Does Not Work in a GATT/WTO World: Lessons from Trade Law History

On July 21, 2026, President Trump exercised his authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (hereinafter Section 338) to impose the maximum amount of additional tariffs (fifty per cent) on Canadian cars, alcohol, and dairy, owing to his determination of Canada’s discriminatory treatment of US exports.
23 Jul 2026 10 min read

EU WTO Reform Proposal Seeks To Extend Accession-Based State Enterprise Rules To All Members

In a new WTO reform paper entitled "Further Reflections on Disciplines, Subsidies and Industrial policy," the EU argues for stronger WTO disciplines on the behavior of state enterprises.
17 Jul 2026 5 min read

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