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A Defense of Zeroing

This is from a dissenting opinion in today's Appellate Body report in U.S. - Washing Machines, with the dissenter arguing that zeroing should be permitted in the context of "pattern" transactions under the second sentence of AD Agreement Article 2.4.2: 5.1.10
Simon Lester 07 Sep 2016 6 min read

Hillary Clinton's Trade Team

The polls are tightening a bit (gulp), but it still seems likely that Hillary Clinton will be the next U.S. President. If that happens, the choices for who in her administration runs trade policy will be very important. Roughly speaking, I would say the Democratic Party includes three views
Simon Lester 06 Sep 2016 3 min read

Appellate Body Update

From Monday's DSB meeting: Chair's statement on Appellate Body matters The DSB Chair, Ambassador Xavier Carim (South Africa), reminded delegations that the deadline for nominations of candidates to fill the vacancy left by the non-reappointment of Mr Seung Wha Chang is 14 September 2016. He also
Simon Lester 06 Sep 2016 1 min read

Sorting Out the UK/EU Dispute Settlement Obligations after Brexit

What would Brexit mean for the UK in relation to past WTO disputes involving the EU? This is from Samuel Lowe: We don’t eat much American beef in the UK. One of the reasons for this is because the EU bans the import of beef sourced from cows pumped
Simon Lester 04 Sep 2016 2 min read

CETA vs. TTIP

Is TTIP going to be sacrificed to save CETA? That's one interpretation of what's going on right now: German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel triggered a bit of a panic this weekend when he said the talks for a trade accord with the United States have “de
Simon Lester 01 Sep 2016 2 min read

Guest Post: New raw materials dispute revives trade tensions between China and the US/EU

This is a guest post from Ilaria Espa of the World Trade Institute  The third WTO dispute targeting China’s regime of export restrictions on raw materials is around the corner. Between June and August, the US and the EU filed separate requests for consultations, later supplemented (here and here)
Simon Lester 01 Sep 2016 6 min read

The Impact of International Economic Law on Tobacco and Public Health

If you are interested in trade, tobacco and public health, as I am, law prof Sergio Puig has a new paper on tobacco litigation in international courts. There's a lot in there, and I couldn't possibly discuss everything in this blog post. I'm going
Simon Lester 30 Aug 2016 3 min read

National Courts vs. International Arbitration

Over at EJIL: Talk!, David Caron and Esme Shirlow comment on the backlash against investment arbitration and international economic law more generally, and say this: For many, the assumption is that investment disputes, absent an arbitration mechanism, will go to the national courts of host States. This has been proposed
Simon Lester 26 Aug 2016 1 min read

Massaging the TPP

This is from Senator Mitch McConnell, as quoted in Inside US Trade: “So TPA -- Trade Promotion Authority -- is in place for the next president whoever that may be and the current agreement, the Trans-Pacific agreement, which has some serious flaws, will not be acted upon this year,” McConnell
Simon Lester 26 Aug 2016 1 min read

Banning the Burqini

Over in Europe, there is a great deal of controversy over bans on the use of Burqini swimwear: A village in Corsica became the third place in France to ban the Burqini from its beaches Monday after a fight broke out over the weekend over the swimsuit favored by some
Simon Lester 23 Aug 2016 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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

The Section 301 Surge Is Upon Us: Investigating Excess Capacity and Production

The first of a large batch of expected Section 301 investigations has arrived, as USTR announced yesterday that it was initiating investigations on acts, policies, and practices of various countries/economies "relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors."
12 Mar 2026 3 min read

Debunking the "Hyperglobalization" Trade Policy Myth

Policy is often shaped by narratives, and recently there has been a bipartisan effort to create a narrative that, starting in the early 1990s, globalization and free trade went too far.
03 Mar 2026 8 min read

Guest Post: Are President Trump’s New Section 122 Tariffs Legal?

This is a guest post from Bryan Riley and Joe Bishop-Henchman. Bryan is Director of the Free Trade Initiative at the National Taxpayers Union; Joe is Executive Vice President at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation President Trump has issued new 10% tariffs, shortly after raised to 15%, based on Section
24 Feb 2026 6 min read

Section 122 as a (Partial) Replacement for the IEEPA Tariffs

Apparently, this is the era of dusting off old international economic policy statutes and figuring out what they mean and how they work. After the Supreme Court's ruling today in Learning Resources, holding that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs," we are now
20 Feb 2026 5 min read

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