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EU Selection Process for Appellate Body Candidates

The EU has launched a selection process for the Appellate Body slot that will open up soon: The second and last term in office of Professor Peter Van den Bossche (Belgium) on the WTO Appellate Body is due to expire on 11 December 2017 and a vacancy will arise. The
Simon Lester 27 Oct 2016 1 min read

If Wallonia Blocks CETA Because Of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Why Not Take ISDS Out of CETA?

Wallonia’s "non" to CETA seems inspired largely by the right CETA gives to Canadian investors in the EU to directly sue EU governments, so-called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). CETA narrowly defines the scenarios where Canadian multinationals -- or, for that matter, individual investors or SMEs -- would
Joost Pauwelyn 26 Oct 2016 3 min read

The Australians May Be Looking for a Simpler EU Trade Deal

Are people drawing any lessons from the troubles with CETA? There is still a long way to go with settling the scope of EU trade policy, with a court decision coming and political battles to be fought, and CETA may eventually be fully ratified in its current form. But even
Simon Lester 25 Oct 2016 1 min read

The CETA Controversy

No doubt you have all read about the problems the EU is having with ratifying CETA: After seven years of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta), talks broke down on Friday. This followed a rejection of the deal by Wallonia. Exercising its right under the Belgian federal
Simon Lester 23 Oct 2016 2 min read

Clayton Yeutter Chair at University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law

This is from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has announced the three endowed chairs it will establish as the foundation of the Clayton K. Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance. The institute was launched in 2015 to prepare students to work at a time when national
Simon Lester 20 Oct 2016 2 min read

CETA and Mutual Recognition

This is from The Economist: Twentieth-century trade deals slashed tariffs. Newer ones between rich countries, such as CETA, focus on cutting other barriers to trade. After seven years of haggling, European negotiators dream of European toys and electrical products being sold straight to Canadians, without having to go through a
Simon Lester 20 Oct 2016 1 min read

Does a Tobacco Carveout FTA Amendment Violate International Investment Obligations?

My buddy Bryan Mercurio and I were emailing about the new tobacco carveout in the amended Australia - Singapore FTA, and he suggested that this carveout may violate the fair and equitable treatment obligation.  At first I thought, how would a provision in an investment chapter violate that very chapter?
Simon Lester 19 Oct 2016 1 min read

The Role of the European Parliament in the Conclusion and Implementation of Agreements on International Economic Law Issues

From the European Society of International Law:International Conference "The Role of the European Parliament in the Conclusion and Implementation of Agreements on International Economic Law Issues"On 9 December 2016, the ESIL IG on International Economic Law in cooperation with the European Parliament will organize an International
Simon Lester 18 Oct 2016 1 min read

Jelena Bäumler on the German Federal Constitutional Court’s Judgment on CETA

Law prof Jelena Bäumler offers the following thoughts on yesterday's decision by the German Federal Constitutional Court on CETA: Yes, but…- for now! The German Federal Constitutional Court’s judgment on CETA On 13 October 2016, the German Federal Constitutional Court (the Court, FCC) issued its much-awaited
Simon Lester 14 Oct 2016 8 min read

The Tobacco Carveout is Spreading

Whether or not the TPP ever gets ratified, the idea for a tobacco carveout seems to have taken hold. Via Tania Voon on twitter, I see that Australia and Singapore have agreed to amend their FTA to include a tobacco carveout. Here's the added text (p. 97) ARTICLE
Simon Lester 13 Oct 2016 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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