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Counting Down the Appellate Body Members' Terms

This is from Manfred Elsig, Mark Pollack and Gregory Shaffer: The future of the world trading system is at stake thanks to an impasse in Geneva over the appointment of members of the Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Trump administration has been waging a behind-
Simon Lester 27 Sep 2017 2 min read

Is International Economic Law International?

Following up on my earlier posts, I want to talk briefly about U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's response to a question about WTO dispute settlement: ... We’ve had other provisions where the WTO has taken – really, I think, took the position that they were going to strike
Simon Lester 24 Sep 2017 5 min read

USTR's NAFTA Chapter 20 Proposals

Recall that at a recent CSIS event, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said this: ... Back when Senator Brock and I were there and there was a system, it was before 1995, before the WTO, under the GATT, and there was a system where you would bring panels and then
Simon Lester 21 Sep 2017 3 min read

Lighthizer on WTO Dispute Settlement

This is an excerpt from the Q & A at the Lighthizer CSIS event mentioned in the last post, relating to WTO dispute settlement. I'm just going to quote it for now, but I should have more to say later. MR. MILLER: ... To continue with the WTO, the
Simon Lester 19 Sep 2017 3 min read

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
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
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
Simon Lester 10 Sep 2017 3 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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Featured

Does The EU Need Its Own Section 301 To Counter China's Distortions?

Recently, economists Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser suggested that the EU may need its own version of Section 301 in order to "confront China’s systemic distortions beyond piecemeal trade defence."
17 Jun 2026 7 min read

The Section 301 Forced Labor Import Ban Report

On June 2, 2026, USTR released its report on 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.
04 Jun 2026 11 min read

What To Expect from the USMCA Review?

The USMCA review is almost upon us. How exactly things will proceed is a bit unclear, as we've never done this sort of thing before, but July 1 is the six year anniversary of the USMCA's entry into force.
03 Jun 2026 15 min read

China in the World Trading System: A Response to Chad, and Some Comments on Froman-Greer

I'm going to use this post to (1) respond to Chad and (2) comment on an exchange between current U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer and former U.S. Trade Rep. Mike Froman at a recent CFR event.
01 Jun 2026 7 min read

My Response To Simon on China in the World Trading System

Here are two quick reactions to the super important question of what explains why countries did not use WTO dispute settlement to push China to change.
28 May 2026 2 min read

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