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Job Opening: Director of Legal Affairs at the WTO

Here are some of the details: The Secretariat of the WTO is seeking to fill the position of Director in the Legal Affairs Division. General Functions Reporting to a Deputy Director-General (DDG), the incumbent will lead the Legal Affairs Division, which is primarily responsible for assisting dispute settlement panels and
Simon Lester 09 May 2016 2 min read

Trump's Trade Delusions

Donald Trump talked about trade today: Greeted by supporters chanting "build the wall" as well as protesters, Donald Trump rallied thousands in Nebraska. Trump spoke for about 35 minutes, highlighting issues like trade and immigration. He made a point of saying he tailored his message for Nebraska, talking
Simon Lester 06 May 2016 1 min read

Hillary Clinton on the TPP

From the Washington Post: Clinton, the Democratic pres­idential front-runner, responded in writing to a question on the lame-duck session from a coalition of Oregon labor unions and environmental groups by stating: “I oppose the TPP agreement — and that means before and after the election.” ... On the Oregon questionnaire, in
Simon Lester 06 May 2016 1 min read

Protectionism

Regular readers know how much I like to obsess over the meaning of "protectionism" and the purpose of trade agreements. Sweden's National Board of Trade has a great new report that delves into these questions. Here's an excerpt: As mentioned, the approaches to protectionism
Simon Lester 04 May 2016 1 min read

Obama on the TPP

This is from President Obama in an op-ed pushing for the TPP: ... China is negotiating a trade deal that would carve up some of the fastest-growing markets in the world at our expense, putting American jobs, businesses and goods at risk. ... Fortunately, America has a plan of our own that
Simon Lester 04 May 2016 2 min read

Will TTIP be "Light"?

This is from Inside US Trade: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and German Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Monday (April 25) each blamed the other side for holding up progress in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, with Gabriel charging the U.S. with intransigence on government
Simon Lester 02 May 2016 3 min read

Can Trade Agreements Change Domestic Laws?

This is from EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström: It begs to be said, again and again: No EU trade agreement will ever lower our level of protection of consumers, or food safety, or of the environment. Trade agreements will not change our laws on GMOs, or how to produce safe
Simon Lester 02 May 2016 1 min read

Maybe Purpose Can Be Part of Non-Discrimination After All

Reading further in the Argentina - Financial Services AB report, maybe I was getting all worked up over nothing.  After seeming to say that "regulatory aspects" of the measure cannot be considered as a separate step in the conditions of competition/treatment no less favorable analysis, the AB
Simon Lester 29 Apr 2016 1 min read

Determining a Measure's Purpose

We had so much fun talking about discriminatory purpose last week, I thought I'd bring up the subject again.  This time, I want to focus on exactly how one might evaluate a measure's legitimacy, which you may or may not think involves a determination as to
Simon Lester 29 Apr 2016 7 min read

Regulating "Healthy" Cigarettes

From The Economist: TOBACCO companies specialise in contradiction. They herald the decline of smoking among youngsters, for example, then flaunt their sales to callow puffers. The most skilled contortionist in the industry may be Philip Morris International, the world’s biggest tobacco firm. To date, any good news for shareholders
Simon Lester 26 Apr 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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