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Is the WTO Passé?

The answer is NO according to an interesting paper (Is the WTO Passé?, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS 7304), June 2015) co-written by Kyle Bagwell, Chad Bown and Robert Staiger.  This paper sheds new light on the relevancy of the WTO as an engine of trade liberalization.  It
Sungjoon Cho 25 Jun 2015 2 min read

Guest Post on Applying GATT Disciplines to TRIPS-plus Provisions

This is a guest post from Henning Grosse Ruse - Khan  For a paper I have been working on (http://ssrn.com/abstract=2610576), I am looking for comments on applying GATT disciplines (such as Art.I, III, V and XI) as well as the General Exception rule in Art.
Simon Lester 24 Jun 2015 2 min read

Chinese Medicines in the China-Australia FTA

I came across one of the more interesting yet small details swirling around international trade today when I read a story (here) by the online news part of the ABC (that is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - not the other ABC) that: "Chinese medicine was the subject of a
Colin Picker 23 Jun 2015 1 min read

(De)politicizing Investment Disputes

Remember the Yukos investment arbitration award?  Here is Reuters from last year discussing the award: An international arbitration court ruled on Monday that Russia must pay $50 billion for expropriating the assets of Yukos, the former oil giant whose ex-owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky fell foul of the Kremlin. Now here is
Simon Lester 19 Jun 2015 1 min read

Banning Trans Fat (And Trade Therein)

From the NY Times earlier this week: The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday gave the food industry three years to eliminate artery-clogging artificial trans fats from the food supply, a long-awaited step that capped years of effort by consumer groups and is expected to save thousands of lives a
Simon Lester 19 Jun 2015 1 min read

Diversity in International Arbitration

From Transnational Dispute Management: ArbitralWomen, Transnational Dispute Management and Ashurst would be delighted if you would join us for the launch of "Dealing with Diversity in International Arbitration" followed by a drinks reception. This Special Issue will analyse discrimination and diversity in international arbitration. It will examine new
Simon Lester 19 Jun 2015 1 min read

Banning Cloned Animals and Their Meat/Milk in the EU

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament proposed to ban the sale and import of cloned animals and their products (meat and milk).  In 2013, the European Commission advanced a similar proposal. Some languages of
Sungjoon Cho 18 Jun 2015 1 min read

ISDS Innovations in the ChAFTA

The full text of the China - Australia FTA is out.  The investment chapter is here.  It is really interesting what they have done.  They include the usual national treatment and MFN provisions, but then that's about it for obligations, at least for now.  For everything else, there
Simon Lester 17 Jun 2015 1 min read

Hillary Clinton on ISDS

Hillary Clinton was talking trade in New Hampshire today, in response to questions from reporters.  I don't see the full video or transcript anywhere on the internet yet (I suspect it will be up there soon), but Ted Alden of CFR sent me something he had (this is
Simon Lester 15 Jun 2015 3 min read

Closed vs. Open Worldviews in the U.S. Trade Debate

This is from The Economist: A FEW years ago a wise pollster—pondering how labels like left-wing and right-wing have been scrambled by globalisation—came up with a different way to sort voters in Western democracies. Electorates, he suggested, broadly divide into two groups, one of which sees change and
Simon Lester 14 Jun 2015 3 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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

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