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Lighthizer on Trade

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spoke at CSIS yesterday. The full transcript is here. I'm going to respond to some of his specific points. Early on, he refers to a growing skepticism about trade: For decades, support for what we call free trade has been eroding among
Simon Lester 19 Sep 2017 4 min read

Guest Post: A Follow-up to the EU Commission’s Decision to ‘Split’ Trade and Investment Protection

This is a guest post by Szilárd Gáspár-Szilágyi In a previous post Simon Lester has commented on President Juncker’s wish to rescue the EU’s trade policy, by concluding a set of streamlined trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand that would carve out contentious clauses on investment protection.
Simon Lester 14 Sep 2017 5 min read

Juncker's "Risky" Decision to Split Trade and ISDS/Investment Protection

This is from Politico: Jean-Claude Juncker wants to style the EU as the undisputed champion of global trade when he steps up to deliver his State of the Union address in Strasbourg Wednesday. The European Commission president’s pièce de résistance will be to propose a fast-track system to ensure
Simon Lester 13 Sep 2017 2 min read

Guest Post: Dispute Finance For Sovereigns In WTO Disputes - Access To Justice For Developing Countries

This is a guest post by Mauritius Nagelmueller: Access to justice continues to be an issue within the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) today, especially for developing countries. To keep the promise of a fairer trading system, developing country participation in the DSB needs to be improved, since the relationships
Simon Lester 12 Sep 2017 4 min read

Trade and Gender Politics

Canadian trade politics has a very different focus than U.S. trade politics does: The strongest opposition to including issues such as gender equality in discussions over the North American Free Trade Agreement has come not from the United States but from within Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.
Simon Lester 12 Sep 2017 1 min read

Will the EU Split Trade and Investment Protection?

This is from Politico: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker aims to solve one of the greatest weaknesses of EU trade policy by proposing fast-track ratification of trade deals that would eliminate the need for approval by some 40 parliaments across Europe. ... Building on the momentum of a landmark deal with
Simon Lester 10 Sep 2017 3 min read

Is There a NAFTA Chapter 19 Compromise?

The U.S. wants to "eliminate" NAFTA Chapter 19; Canada and Mexico want to keep it. It's hard to find a compromise between these two positions, but I gave it a shot with this proposal: Regardless of whether Chapter 19 was justified initially, a long time
Simon Lester 04 Sep 2017 2 min read

Trade Law in the Trump Era: A Transatlantic Perspective

Chantal Thomas asked that I post the following: Conference Announcement -- This Week at Boston University-- "Trade Law in the Trump Era: A Transatlantic Perspective" If you happen to be in the Boston area or otherwise available, please join this upcoming conference at Boston University School of Law.
Simon Lester 03 Sep 2017 1 min read

Canadian Trade and Investment Dispute Rosters

The Canadian government is looking for Canadians and non-Canadians to be on their international trade and investment dispute rosters (application details at the link): We know that our country is stronger — and our government more effective — when decision-makers reflect Canada's diversity. The Government of Canada will use an
Simon Lester 03 Sep 2017 6 min read

The Scope of Public Morals in GATT Article XX(a)

This is from yesterday's Brazil - Taxation panel report: 7.565. In reviewing the arguments and evidence submitted by Brazil, the Panel considers that Brazil has demonstrated that there is a problem of a "digital divide" in Brazil, and that the problem of the digital divide
Simon Lester 31 Aug 2017 1 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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