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A Few Thoughts on Antitrust and Big Tech

I'm no antitrust expert, but I do have some opinions on it, and I'm going to offer a few of them in this post. As an intro, I want to mention a speech by Notre Dame law professor Roger Alford -- whose Opinio Juris blog posts have
Simon Lester 24 Aug 2025 3 min read

Wentong Zheng on Presidential Tariffs

University of Florida law professor Wentong Zheng has posted a new paper called "Presidential Tariffs," in which he argues that the IEEPA should not be interpreted to allow the President to proclaim tariff modifications for the purpose of entering into market-opening trade agreements, given that Congress allowed
Simon Lester 22 Aug 2025 1 min read

Matthew Schaefer on Trump Administration Trade Policy: A Historical Perspective and Key Questions & Takeaways

The following is an excerpt from a new Yeutter Institute piece by University of Nebraska law professor Matthew Schaefer entitled "Trump Administration Trade Policy: A Historical Perspective and Key Questions & Takeaways," offering a good roundup of a lot of the biggest trade policy issues out there at
Simon Lester 22 Aug 2025 11 min read

Todd Tucker on Tariffs and the Role of Courts

In an op-ed in the FT entitled "Opponents of Trump’s tariffs should be wary of relying on the courts," Todd Tucker argues against U.S. courts striking down Trump's IEEPA tariffs. I have some questions and comments on his views of this issue, focusing
Simon Lester 17 Aug 2025 7 min read

Guest Post: Trump, Trade and Coercion

This is a guest post from Boston College law professor Frank Garcia. (Cross-posted from the Cambridge University press blog) The first year of Trump’s second term has been a chaotic one for trade, as for so much else. Before inauguration, the President had already threatened tariffs against Denmark
Simon Lester 13 Aug 2025 7 min read

What Trump's Trade Representative Got Wrong

Last week, USTR Jamieson Greer wrote an essay in The New York Times entitled, ‘Trump’s Trade Representative: Why We Remade the Global Order’. Simon has already done the heavy lifting by asking some necessary questions about this new order. Out of all the inaccuracies and “too early to tell”
Mona Paulsen 12 Aug 2025 3 min read

New Security Exception Language Establishes a Two-Tiered Approach

Via Mona Paulsen and Devon Whittle, I see that Chapter 28 of the UK-India trade agreement has some interesting new language on security exceptions. It starts off as expected, with the following: Article 28.2 Security Exceptions 1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to: (a) require a
Simon Lester 11 Aug 2025 3 min read

Jamieson Greer on Remaking the Global Trade Order

U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer had a NY Times op-ed yesterday entitled "Why We Remade the Global Order." I have a few reactions to specific things he said. I'll quote some points from the op-ed and then give a brief response. Greer: Our
Simon Lester 08 Aug 2025 5 min read

Trump Pushes Big Pharma on Controlling U.S. Prices

Following up on a previous post of mine, let's check in on the Trump administration's efforts to lower drug prices in the U.S. market. A White House fact sheet from last week explains that "Trump sent letters to leading pharmaceutical manufacturers outlining the steps
Simon Lester 05 Aug 2025 3 min read

Call for Submissions: “Into the Future of Global Trade: Tackling Fragmentation, Protectionism, Tariffs, and Beyond”

The Trade, Law and Development (TL&D) journal has issued a Call for Submissions for a special issue on  “Into the Future of Global Trade: Tackling Fragmentation, Protectionism, Tariffs, and Beyond.” The call is here. This is an excerpt: While the theme is broad enough to cover a wide
Simon Lester 05 Aug 2025 1 min read

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Governments Make Their Case Against Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs

Last month, USTR made a determination in its Section 301 investigation into "Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure To Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced With Forced Labor."
10 Jul 2026 5 min read

How Should the EU Get Tough with China? Unilateral Action vs. WTO Complaints

I've seen several recent calls for the EU to get tougher in its economic relations with China, along with arguments that it has been too slow to act against the Chinese economic threat.
06 Jul 2026 4 min read

Trump Administration Decides Not To Extend USMCA for Another Term: What Does That Mean Exactly?

Today, as part of the first joint review of the USMCA, the three governments held a virtual meeting.
01 Jul 2026 4 min read

Competing Views of Sovereignty: The Haves vs. The Have Nots in AI (and Steel)

It's interesting to watch how political leaders craft narratives around economic competition that reflect their own country's strengths and weaknesses.
29 Jun 2026 4 min read

A law of many meanings: Exchange Actions under the GATT and IMF

Earlier this week, Simon Lester posted about the EU’s concerns with the undervaluation of the Chinese currency. He situated the recent demands for trade restrictions against a longstanding debate about the function of GATT Article XV:4.
25 Jun 2026 8 min read

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