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

Quick Take on WTO AB Tuna Ruling

I'm sure Rob (and maybe others) will weigh in soon on today's WTO Appellate Body ruling in the Article 21.5 proceeding of U.S. - Tuna, but let me just quickly mention one point that occurs to me.  (The facts of the measure here are
Simon Lester 20 Nov 2015 2 min read

"Like Circumstances" in the TPP Trade in Services Chapter

From the TPP cross-border trade in services chapter: Article 10.3: National Treatment2 1. Each Party shall accord to services and service suppliers of another Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own services and service suppliers. 2 For greater certainty, whether treatment
Simon Lester 19 Nov 2015 1 min read

No ISDS as between Australia and New Zealand

Via what is referred to as an "associated document" on the Australia DFAT web site, and a "side instrument" on the NZ MFAT web site, Australia and New Zealand have agreed to exclude ISDS as between each other in the TPP: 3. No investor of New
Simon Lester 19 Nov 2015 1 min read

Assessing the TPP at the ITC

From the U.S. International Trade Commission: The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has instituted an investigation to assess the likely impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that the President has announced he intends to enter into with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,
Simon Lester 18 Nov 2015 1 min read

Interpreting GATT Article XXI

Russia wants further interpretation of GATT Article XXI to be on the post-Nairobi agenda: Interpretation and Implementation of Security Exceptions provided in the Multilateral Trade Agreements 1.5. With reference to the "Decision Concerning Article XXI of the General Agreement" adopted by the CONTRACTING PARTIES on November 30,
Simon Lester 18 Nov 2015 1 min read

WTO Jurisprudence in TPP Dispute Settlement

This is from Article 28.11 of the TPP Dispute Settlement Chapter: 3. The panel shall consider this Agreement in accordance with applicable rules of interpretation under international law as reflected in Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969). In addition, with respect
Simon Lester 16 Nov 2015 1 min read

GATT Article XX Exceptions to the TPP TBT Chapter

As far as I know, no responding party ever invoked GATT Article XX as a defense to a claim of violation of the TBT Agreement (although it would have been fun if they had), but given the various statements the Appellate Body has made recently on the interpretation of both
Simon Lester 16 Nov 2015 1 min read

Guest Post on Argentina - Financial Services

This is a guest post by trade lawyer Adarsh Ramanujan:“Treatment no less favourable” –Article II:1, GATS and Article 2.1, TBT Pursuant to Simon’s earlier post about the appeal filed by Panama in Argentina – Financial Services, I noticed that one of the grounds of appeal relates to
Simon Lester 13 Nov 2015 3 min read

The TPP Process for Composing Dispute Settlement Panels

If we want trade agreements to be enforceable, there needs to be a dispute settlement process that functions. The WTO process works well because you have a Secretariat and a Director-General to oversee it.  By contrast, as I understand things, NAFTA Chapter 20 has broken down in the panelist selection
Simon Lester 13 Nov 2015 2 min read

SIEL 2016 Conference Call for Papers Deadline Extended

From the SIEL: The Society of International Economic Law has extended until November 20 the deadline to submit paper and panel proposals for its 2016 conference, which will be held from 7-9 July in Johannesburg at the University of the Witwatersrand.  The extended call for papers is here.
Simon Lester 12 Nov 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

Could Congress Extend the USMCA for Another Term?

People have been assuming that the decision on whether to extend the USMCA for another term is up to President Trump, but based on the language of the USMCA related to the upcoming joint review, could Congress actually have the power to make this decision on its own?
04 May 2026 4 min read

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

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

27 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

59 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

10 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

6 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

13 posts

FTAs - General

22 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

9 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

17 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

19 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

38 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

60 posts

Non-Market Economies

6 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

19 posts

Precedent

25 posts

Public Views of Trade

9 posts

Rare Earths

1 post

Robert Lighthizer

18 posts

Russia Trade Sanctions

17 posts

Sanctions

15 posts

Section 301

12 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

3 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

21 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

21 posts

Trade and Environment

118 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

9 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

26 posts

Trade and Labor

25 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

35 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

11 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

10 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

63 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

53 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

32 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

60 posts

US-China Trade Relations

27 posts

USMCA

19 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

23 posts

USTR

16 posts

WTO - General

25 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

177 posts

WTO DS Reform

13 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts
Powered by Ghost