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Spain Meets the ICSID Grand Inquisitor: the Eiser case

The recent Eiser v. Spain ICSID award is yet another example of a state being condemned to pay a large monetary sum merely because an investor has been economically disadvantaged by a reasonable and necessary regulatory change.  Eiser, which generates renewable energy in Spain, complained, like many other companies (Spain
Rob Howse 23 Aug 2017 4 min read

ISDS in the New NAFTA

This is from Inside US Trade: U.S. negotiators are considering a new approach to the controversial investor-state dispute settlement mechanism featuring an opt-in clause that would allow each of the three NAFTA countries to decide whether to use the provision, sources told Inside U.S. Trade. Does that mean
Simon Lester 20 Aug 2017 1 min read

NAFTA / WTO Conflicts

This is from Inside US Trade: U.S. NAFTA negotiators are expected to push a proposal backed by Florida-based producers that would allow seasonal growers to qualify as the domestic industry in trade remedy cases despite not representing 51 percent of the U.S. industry. According to several sources, the
Simon Lester 18 Aug 2017 2 min read

Free Trade AND Free College-Why Not? The case for a centrist Democratic POTUS candidate who's also anti-establishment

(This post was inspired in some ways by Damon Linker's insightful writing about the current US political scene and in other ways by Edward Luce). Most of my political and economic ideas and ideals line up with the progressive movement in the Democratic Party; that's to
Rob Howse 17 Aug 2017 2 min read

Free Trade AND Free College-Why Not? The case for a centrist Democratic POTUS candidate who's also anti-establishment

(This post was inspired in some ways by Damon Linker's insightful writing about the current US political scene and in other ways by Edward Luce). Most of my political and economic ideas and ideals line up with the progressive movement in the Democratic Party; that's to
Rob Howse 17 Aug 2017 2 min read

Free Trade AND Free College-Why Not? The case for a centrist Democratic POTUS candidate who's also anti-establishment

(This post was inspired in some ways by Damon Linker's insightful writing about the current US political scene and in other ways by Edward Luce). Most of my political and economic ideas and ideals line up with the progressive movement in the Democratic Party; that's to
Rob Howse 17 Aug 2017 2 min read

China's Alleged Forced Technology Transfer

This is from a Presidential Memorandum issued by President Trump today, directing the U.S. Trade Representative to determine "whether to investigate any of China's laws, policies, practices, or actions that may be unreasonable or discriminatory and that may be harming American intellectual property rights, innovation, or
Simon Lester 14 Aug 2017 1 min read

Canada's NAFTA renegotiation objectives-including reform of the investor-state dispute settlement process

This morning, in a major address, Canada's foreign minister Chrystia Freeland laid out the government's objectives for the renegotiation of NAFTA.  This is the key passage from her speech: First, we aim to modernize NAFTA. The agreement is 23 years old. The global, North American, and
Rob Howse 14 Aug 2017 5 min read

President Trump Cannot Terminate NAFTA without Congressional Approval

Apropos of the commencement of NAFTA renegotiation next week, I just posted on SSRN a draft paper arguing that the President lacks independent power to terminate trade agreements.  Here are the title and abstract.  Comments are most welcome. Terminating Trade Agreements: the Presidential Dormant Commerce Clause Versus a Constitutional Gloss
Trachtman 10 Aug 2017 1 min read

The Martyrdom of statistician Andreas Georgiou: Another Pretext for Greece-Bashing :

Once again, the international media, along with some EU officials, are presenting Greece's former chief statistician Andreas Georgiou as a martyr.  The story goes as follows:  during the crisis Mr. Georgiou was not only an honest but heroic apostle for truth in numbers, unflinching in revealing the awful
Rob Howse 07 Aug 2017 3 min read

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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

The Section 301 Surge Is Upon Us: Investigating Excess Capacity and Production

The first of a large batch of expected Section 301 investigations has arrived, as USTR announced yesterday that it was initiating investigations on acts, policies, and practices of various countries/economies "relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors."
12 Mar 2026 3 min read

Debunking the "Hyperglobalization" Trade Policy Myth

Policy is often shaped by narratives, and recently there has been a bipartisan effort to create a narrative that, starting in the early 1990s, globalization and free trade went too far.
03 Mar 2026 8 min read

Guest Post: Are President Trump’s New Section 122 Tariffs Legal?

This is a guest post from Bryan Riley and Joe Bishop-Henchman. Bryan is Director of the Free Trade Initiative at the National Taxpayers Union; Joe is Executive Vice President at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation President Trump has issued new 10% tariffs, shortly after raised to 15%, based on Section
24 Feb 2026 6 min read

Section 122 as a (Partial) Replacement for the IEEPA Tariffs

Apparently, this is the era of dusting off old international economic policy statutes and figuring out what they mean and how they work. After the Supreme Court's ruling today in Learning Resources, holding that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs," we are now
20 Feb 2026 5 min read

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