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Why Not Renegotiate the TPP Instead of NAFTA?

There has been lots of talk by Trump and his advisers about renegotiating NAFTA, or if that doesn't work withdrawing from it.  With TPP, by contrast, they mostly just talk about abandoning it. In terms of the substance of NAFTA, they seem to be focused on issues such
Simon Lester 11 Nov 2016 1 min read

Trump's Trade Team

This is from Inside US Trade: Dan DiMicco, former chief executive of steel producer Nucor and senior trade adviser for President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, will lead the Trump administration's transition efforts for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, according to a document obtained by
Simon Lester 10 Nov 2016 1 min read

What To Expect from President Donald Trump's Trade Policy

The next four years are going to be rough. Trade is one of many areas where Donald Trump has said some things that are far out of the mainstream. Some of his statements just carry on current policy ("I am going to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to
Simon Lester 09 Nov 2016 2 min read

Appellate Review of a Panel's Examination of a Measure

This is from the recent U.S. DSB statement related to the EU - Biodiesel Measures Appellate Body report: The United States, however, would like to draw the DSB’s attention to an important systemic issue with implications for the operation of the dispute settlement system. The issue is how
Simon Lester 04 Nov 2016 6 min read

Is ICS compatible with EU Law?

This is from Laurens Ankersmit: So what are the main legal issues underlying ICS and EU law? It is clear that the Treaties in principle permit international agreements providing for state-to-state dispute settlement between the EU and third countries (such as the WTO’s dispute settlement body). Such state-to-state dispute
Simon Lester 04 Nov 2016 1 min read

Canadian Constitutional Challenge to CETA

First it was some groups in Germany. Now someone in Canada is filing a constitutional challenge to CETA. The key documents are here. This is from the press release: The Plaintiffs central challenge is four-fold, namely that: (1) that the federal government does not have the constitutional authority to sign,
Simon Lester 01 Nov 2016 1 min read

Interpreting the CETA Joint Interpretative Instrument

CETA has now been signed, although perhaps not yet sealed and delivered. The Joint Interpretative Instrument that helped CETA reach the provisional application stage (ratification is still a ways off) is here. I've been curious about what impact this instrument of interpretation will have on the interpretation of
Simon Lester 01 Nov 2016 2 min read

CALL FOR PAPERS: The duties, rights and powers of international arbitrators

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals Special Issue on THE DUTIES, RIGHTS AND POWERS OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATORS This special issue of the journal The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals focuses on the duties, rights and powers of international arbitrators in investment
Simon Lester 30 Oct 2016 2 min read

Could Joe Stiglitz or Lori Wallach Be Making Trade Policy in a Clinton Administration?

This is from the Washington Post: Liberal advocacy groups are preparing blacklists of candidates for appointments to a Hillary Clinton administration, with one organization even producing opposition research to torpedo contenders they consider too soft on Wall Street or other corporate interests. Planning for a Democratic victory on Nov. 8,
Simon Lester 30 Oct 2016 1 min read

Belgian CETA Declaration Informal English Translation (from French version; opening procedural paragraphs omitted)

Informal translation of excerpts of the Declaration of the Kingdom of Belgium relating to the conditions under which the federal State and the federated entities exercise their full authority to sign CETA I have not translated all of those aspects that mostly pertain to procedural matters and federal intra-Belgium matters
Rob Howse 28 Oct 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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