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Is Trump's TPP Withdrawal a Negotiating Tactic?

From the BBC: President-elect Donald Trump says the US will quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the White House. He made the announcement in a video message outlining what he intends to do first when he takes office in January. I've never been
Simon Lester 21 Nov 2016 1 min read

Lighthizer on Trump's USTR Landing Team

According to Trump's transition web site, trade lawyer Robert Lighthizer is on the USTR "landing team" that is organizing the transition for USTR. Just to give everyone a sense, here is something Lighthizer wrote in 2011 (when Trump was also considering a Presidential run): With Donald
Simon Lester 21 Nov 2016 2 min read

Post-Brexit Britain in A World of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs)

Here is a Brexit conference organized by Luca Rubini at the University of Birmingham on Feb 24, 2017: This conference has two goals. The first is to explore the important legal and political questions about the new role of the UK in the international trade context, and in particular with
Simon Lester 21 Nov 2016 1 min read

Carbon Tariffs and the Paris Agreement

This is from the NY Times: Diplomats from around the world converged here this week with the plan to put details on last year’s Paris climate accord and move the globe closer to controlling the industrial emissions that are heating the planet. Instead, with the election of Donald J.
Simon Lester 20 Nov 2016 3 min read

Will NAFTA Chapter 19 Survive a NAFTA Renegotiation?

This is from a letter from trade critic Senator Sherrod Brown to President-elect Donald Trump, offering advice on general trade policy and specific thoughts on a NAFTA renegotiation: ... American manufacturers have been harmed by provisions that allow antidumping and countervailing duty determinations to be reviewed. Presumably this refers to NAFTA
Simon Lester 20 Nov 2016 1 min read

Freelance Analyst Wanted for Investment Arbitration Reporter

This is from my friend Luke Peterson of Investment Arbitration Reporter: Freelance analyst wanted Investment Arbitration Reporter is looking for one or more persons to join our team of freelance contributors. Since 2008, our publication has offered specialized reporting on developments in the field of international investment law. We read
Simon Lester 15 Nov 2016 1 min read

Trade Policy Reactions to Trump from Around the World

From China: US president-elect Donald Trump would be a “naive” fool to launch an all-out trade war against China, a Communist party-controlled newspaper has claimed. During the acrimonious race for the White House Trump repeatedly lashed out at China, vowing to punish Beijing with “defensive” 45% tariffs on Chinese imports
Simon Lester 15 Nov 2016 2 min read

Clarifying EU Competence over Trade and Investment Policy

This is from David Kleimann and Gesa Kübek, who attended the CJEU hearing on the EU-Singapore FTA, the case which will address issues of EU competence over trade and investment policy: In the wake of the CETA-crisis, some commentators were quick to advocate for ‘EU-only’ treatymaking as the appropriate alternative
Simon Lester 14 Nov 2016 3 min read

Are E-Cigarettes "Like" Traditional Cigarettes?

This is the abstract of a paper by Marina Foltea and Anna Markitanova: The regulation of e-cigarettes is a relatively new topic and the optimal regulation of these products is not yet fully understood. Evaluations are underway on many aspects linked to these products, for example: their safety, potential health
Simon Lester 14 Nov 2016 1 min read

Conference on EU Policy on International Investments: Uncertainties, Challenges and Opportunities

This is from Professor Katia Fach Gomez: EU Policy on International Investments: Uncertainties, Challenges and Opportunities We are pleased to announce the holding of the “EU Policy on International Investments: Uncertainties, Challenges and Opportunities” international conference on the 20th and 21st March 2017 at the  University of Zaragoza Law School.
Simon Lester 14 Nov 2016 2 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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