International Economic Law and Policy Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • WorldTradeLaw.net
Sign in Subscribe

The Right to Regulate under CETA

Sweden's National Board of Trade has a new report called "The Right to Regulate in the Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada - and its implications for the Agreement with the USA." There are lots of interesting parts, but I'm going to focus
Simon Lester 26 Oct 2015 2 min read

Marketing the TPP

This is from Greg Ip of the WSJ: ... “behind the border” barriers are politically more sensitive than tariffs because they affect domestic policies, from human rights to how much public health systems pay for drugs. Classical arguments for free trade are also less relevant: a country that grants foreign drug
Simon Lester 23 Oct 2015 1 min read

SIEL Call for Papers

From the SIEL: Call for Papers: Society of International Economic Law and University of Luxembourg, Fifth PEPA/SIEL Conference. SIEL’s Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network (PEPA/SIEL) and the Research Unit in Law of the University of Luxembourg are pleased to announce that the fifth PEPA/SIEL Conference
Simon Lester 23 Oct 2015 1 min read

Mediation Instead of Dispute Settlement?

From the WTO: Nigeria announced its intention to request a mediation process regarding Mexico’s import measures on hibiscus flowers. According to Nigeria, Mexico requires verification of plant health certificates for consignments of hibiscus flowers, a plant commonly used in beverages, resulting in delays of up to six weeks. Mexico,
Simon Lester 20 Oct 2015 1 min read

Trudeaumania!

Back when I lived in Geneva, a Canadian friend was explaining Trudeaumania to me.  Pierre Trudeau was this charismatic political leader, apparently, who was kind of like a rock star in Canada.  Just for fun, I said something along the lines of, "so he was like the Canadian version
Simon Lester 20 Oct 2015 2 min read

The Tobacco Non-Carve-out (Carve-in?)

When the TPP text is made public, no doubt lots of people will explore in excruciating detail each and every word of the "carve-out" of tobacco from the investment provisions.  Until then, we can talk about the reductions in tariffs on tobacco products, set out here by USDA:
Simon Lester 19 Oct 2015 1 min read

A Surprise Choice for an Article 21.3(c) Arbitrator

If you look at the list of Article 21.3(c) arbitration awards, you will see that in all 32 awards, the arbitrator was a current or former Appellate Body Member. Nothing in the DSU requires this, but it developed as a practice, and that's the way it
Simon Lester 15 Oct 2015 1 min read

Is TPP "Dead Until the Lame Duck"?

This is from Politico: President Barack Obama's signature trade deal - the Trans-Pacific Partnership - may not get taken up by the GOP-run Congress until after the 2016 elections, senior Republican and Democratic aides said Wednesday. Mike Sommers, chief of staff for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said at
Simon Lester 15 Oct 2015 1 min read

(A Little) More from Hillary on TPP

From Bloomberg: Hillary Clinton says Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact doesn’t meet her criteria for dealing with currency manipulation, “one of the main reasons for job loss going back several decades.” * NOTE: Democratic presidential candidate makes comments in Henderson, Nev., after event where she was endorsed by International Union of
Simon Lester 14 Oct 2015 1 min read

Useless Debate Questioning on Trade

In my last post, I worried that any trade and TPP questions for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic debate would not be very productive.  And voila: ANDERSON COOPER: You were against same-sex marriage. Now you're for it. You defended President Obama's immigration policies. Now you say
Simon Lester 14 Oct 2015 1 min read

About

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

Sign up for email notifications

[email protected]
Subscribe

Featured

Is this the end of MFN as we know it? The EU submission on WTO reform and the meaning of development

With the release of the EU submission on WTO reform, it has become clear that the MFN principle’s central role within the WTO architecture is under challenge. As a keystone, it risks the entire bridge falling. Even if the foundations are retained but deemed outdated or unusable, and a
23 Jan 2026 3 min read

Can "Geopolitical" Tariffs Be Dealt With through Trade Deals?

Last Friday, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer was asked about Trump's initial suggestion of tariffs related to the goal of taking over Greenland
20 Jan 2026 4 min read

Is Foreign Antitrust Enforcement "Discriminatory" and "Anti-American"?

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing in December on "Anti-American Antitrust: How Foreign Governments Target U.S. Businesses." There was a lot of talk at the hearing about how foreign regulations and regulators "discriminate" against American companies.
05 Jan 2026 5 min read

Pennsylvania Court Finds Mexican Government Guilty of "Discrimination" Due To Its Subsidies

I'm always interested in how courts apply the concept of "discrimination" in the context of international trade, so I've been eagerly awaiting a Pennsylvania court decision in a case against Mexico.
12 Dec 2025 8 min read

Economic Security in Trade Agreements: My Response to Geoff Gertz

Thanks to Geoff for laying out his vision of why economic security should be in trade agreements and how to bring it in. It won't surprise anyone to hear I have some additional comments and questions in response!
04 Dec 2025 10 min read

Topics

2008 Presidential Election

25 posts

2012 Republican Primary

6 posts

2020 Democratic Primary

22 posts

2020 Presidential Campaign

6 posts

2024 Presidential Campaign

9 posts

2024 Republican Primary

9 posts

Announcements

25 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

55 posts

Domestic Trade Powers

10 posts

Dormant Commerce Clause

3 posts

DSU 25 Interim Appeals

43 posts

DSU Article 11

13 posts

Economic Integration

8 posts

Economic Statecraft

8 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

5 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

12 posts

FTAs - General

21 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

8 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

14 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

18 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

37 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

59 posts

Non-Market Economies

5 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

16 posts

Precedent

25 posts

Public Views of Trade

9 posts

Rare Earths

1 post

Robert Lighthizer

17 posts

Russia Trade Sanctions

17 posts

Sanctions

15 posts

Sovereignty

9 posts

Speech

1 post

SPS/TBT

5 posts

Standards of Review

7 posts

State Enterprises

7 posts

Sub-National Trade Issues

5 posts

Subsidies

83 posts

Tariffs

2 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

16 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

20 posts

Trade and Environment

117 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

8 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

25 posts

Trade and Labor

23 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

32 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

9 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

9 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

62 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

45 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

29 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

58 posts

US-China Trade Relations

26 posts

USMCA

18 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

18 posts

USTR

15 posts

WTO - General

20 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

175 posts

WTO DS Reform

12 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts

Zeroing

29 posts
Powered by Ghost