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Operative Time Frames for the Imposition of the China Section 301 Tariffs

Jennifer Hillman asked me to post the following: Does anyone know what the operative time frames are for the imposition of the China 301 tariffs? The President’s memorandum of March 22, in using the language “unreasonable or discriminatory and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce,” has made it
Simon Lester 28 Mar 2018 2 min read

Will Anyone File a WTO Complaint Against the KORUS Steel Quotas?

Inside US Trade describes the steel quotas agreed to as part of the KORUS modifications as follows: Korea’s trade minister Kim Hyun-chong announced at a press briefing Monday that Korea would receive a quota of about 2.68 million tons of steel exports to the U.S. annually, which
Simon Lester 28 Mar 2018 1 min read

The First Trump Trade Deal: The KORUS Renegotiation May Be Complete

Unlike NAFTA, the KORUS FTA renegotiation was not a complete overhaul, but more of a "refurbishing" of the agreement (as Ambassador Lighthizer put it the other day), one that was designed to avoid Congressional oversight. There are reports out now that the KORUS talks are complete, with what
Simon Lester 26 Mar 2018 2 min read

The Section 232 Tariffs in U.S. Court

The first challenge to the Section 232 steel/aluminum tariffs has been filed (thanks to Larry Friedman for the tip). This is an excerpt from the complaint: Accordingly, Plaintiffs Severstal Export GmbH ("SSE") and Severstal Export Miami Corporation ("SSE M ") (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), by and
Simon Lester 25 Mar 2018 2 min read

Lighthizer on a Sunset Clause in NAFTA

Here is another interesting issue that came up at last week's House Ways and Means Committee hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer: Congressman Johnson: Can you tell me what the sunset clause is and what they are trying to accomplish with it? Ambassador Lighthizer: Absolutely, Congressman.
Simon Lester 25 Mar 2018 2 min read

Do investment treaties de-politicize investment disputes?

When I hear people claim that ISDS/investment protection "de-politicizes" investment disputes, in the sense that governments can avoid the unpleasant task of espousing diplomatic claims against other governments, I usually respond by pointing out that ISDS claims create political controversy of another kind, so at best the
Simon Lester 25 Mar 2018 3 min read

Are the Section 232 Steel Tariffs Unconstitutional?

Here is the link to the March 15 podcast by Tim Meyer, Jeff Rosen, and discussing the issue of whether Section 232 violates the US Constitution. https://constitutioncenter.org/debate/podcasts/trump-tariffs-and-trade
Charnovitz 22 Mar 2018 1 min read

Brady-Lighthizer ISDS Exchange

Congressman Kevin Brady and U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer had a good exchange today on ISDS at a House Ways and Means hearing. Here is a messy transcript (hopefully it is mostly accurate): Brady: You know I'm confident you and your team are going to negotiate a
Simon Lester 21 Mar 2018 5 min read

"Regulatory Chill" in NAFTA

This is from the NY Times: The contentious negotiations over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement have veered into one of the world’s most pressing health issues: fighting obesity. Urged on by big American food and soft-drink companies, the Trump administration is using the trade talks
Simon Lester 21 Mar 2018 2 min read

Litigating GATT Article XXI: The U.S. View of the Scope of the Exception

The U.S. submissions in the Russia - Traffic in Transit case are now available here. Here's an excerpt from the third party oral statement: III. The Text of Article XXI, in its Context, Establishes That the Exception Is Self-Judging 11. Article XXI of the GATT 1994, in
Simon Lester 19 Mar 2018 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Is There No Going Back on Trade? What Is the Path Forward? A Response to Lighthizer

Former U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has a new essay in Foreign Affairs, and I have some thoughts. I'm going to start with his brief big picture points on the direction of U.S. trade policy, and then go through a couple of the specific concepts he emphasizes.
27 Apr 2026 6 min read

The Section 301 Excess Capacity Investigation Needs Less Madness, More Method

Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s emergency tariffs under IEEPA  unconstitutional, the administration scrambled to rebuild its tariff wall. While the announcement of Section 122 tariffs immediately following the ruling will provide a temporary patch, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office quickly began to utilize another
24 Apr 2026 6 min read

War Tariffs

This is a co-authored post by Kathleen Claussen and Tim Meyer. Last week, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing new tariffs of 50 percent of the value of any product coming from any country that sells weapons or provides military aid to Iran. Some commentators questioned
14 Apr 2026 5 min read

USMCA Review and Extension Predictions

When the idea of an expiration clause was suggested during the NAFTA renegotiation, I was against it from the start, and Inu and I wrote a pretty critical piece about it at the time. A review is great, we said, let's definitely have reviews, and there are plenty of ways to do that.
08 Apr 2026 5 min read

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

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