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Litigating GATT Article XXI: The EU's View of the Scope of the Exception

A clarification of the scope of the GATT Article XXI security exception may come sooner than expected, as Russia has invoked Article XXI(b)(iii) in the Russia - Traffic in Transit (DS512) dispute. The EU's third party submissions are now online: Third party written submission and third
Simon Lester 17 Mar 2018 1 min read

The Drafting History of GATT Article XXI: Where Did "Considers" Come From?

In my last post, I highlighted the comments of John Leddy, a U.S. delegate to the GATT negotiations, on the meaning and scope of the GATT security exception. But you probably noticed that the version under discussion as part of the New York draft does not have the crucial
Simon Lester 13 Mar 2018 3 min read

The Drafting History of GATT Article XXI: The U.S. View of the Scope of the Security Exception

In the New York draft of the GATT, the security exception was in Article 37, and was combined with the exceptions that are now part of GATT Article XX. Here's what the security exception looked like in this draft: SECTION H. GENERAL EXCEPTIONS Article 37 General exceptions to
Simon Lester 11 Mar 2018 3 min read

EU Can Retaliate Immediately Against Trump's Metal Tariffs

EU Can Retaliate Immediately Against Trump's Metal Tariffs Steve Charnovitz 9 March 2018 In a recent post about the Trump Administration's proposed Section 232 actions against steel and aluminum, Simon Lester comments that "I'm not convinced by the argument that because the national
Charnovitz 09 Mar 2018 3 min read

The Steel/Aluminum Tariff Country Exemptions

Presidential proclamations here and here. Canada and Mexico exempt for now. Here is the situation for other countries (from the steel proclamation): 9.  In adopting this tariff, I recognize that our Nation has important security relationships with some countries whose exports of steel articles to the United States weaken our
Simon Lester 08 Mar 2018 1 min read

What a WTO Complaint Against Section 232 Tariffs/Quotas Might Look Like

In anticipation of possible U.S. tariffs/quotas on steel/aluminum imports under Section 232, citing national security, I'm going to run through the possible WTO claims against such measures. Let's hope everyone can talk the Trump administration out of this, but if not, a WTO
Simon Lester 07 Mar 2018 3 min read

Guest Post: The CJEU Strikes Again in Achmea. Is this the end of investor-State arbitration under intra-EU BITs?

This is a guest post from Dr. Szilárd Gáspár Szilágyi, a Postdoctoral Fellow at PluriCourts, University of Oslo These are exciting times for both investment law and EU law professionals. The EU’s recent moves in international investment law have become the topic of much discussion, be it the conclusion
Simon Lester 07 Mar 2018 9 min read

How Should Countries Retaliate Against the Steel/Aluminum Tariffs?

This is from Politico: But European Union officials are already planning retaliatory actions, targeting products from politically sensitive Republican-run states, including the imposition of tariffs on Harley-Davidsons made in Speaker Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin; duties on bourbon made in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state
Simon Lester 06 Mar 2018 1 min read

Dispute Settlement in the NAFTA Talks

If you are looking for a distraction from the general panic about Trump's possible steel/aluminum tariffs, take a look at this from Inside US Trade: Efforts to fix NAFTA’s state-to-state dispute settlement process have also progressed during this round, sources said. Mexico and Canada are making
Simon Lester 04 Mar 2018 1 min read

Director of the Rules Division

The WTO Secretariat is advertising for a new Director of the Rules Division (application deadline March 28): General Functions  The incumbent will lead the Rules Division, which is responsible for all matters in the areas of subsidies, contingent trade remedies (anti-dumping, countervailing measures and safeguards), trade-related investment measures, state trading
Simon Lester 04 Mar 2018 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Expert commentary on the law, politics and economics of international trade and investment

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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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