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Stiglitz on TPP--Does He Have any Economic Arguments?

At Project Syndicate, Joseph Stiglitz and Adam Hersh have a critique of TPP.  I suppose it was optimistic of me to expect to see concerns about lost jobs or trade diversion--topics that could be illuminated by someone with Stiglitz' enormous skill.  But the critiques were more in the
Joel Trachtman 04 Oct 2015 1 min read

Here's Why Trade Law Interpretation Is So Hard and "Gap-Filling" Is Inevitable

From Inside US Trade: The United States and Australia have jointly developed a text proposal on the exclusivity term for biologics medicines and overnight began showing it to other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries in an effort to build support, in a move that is raising optimism that negotiators can
Simon Lester 04 Oct 2015 1 min read

WTO Panel Report on Argentine “Sanctions” Against Panama Tax Haven

Now here is an interesting panel report that came out Wednesday, Sept. 30. Can a WTO member (here, Argentina) impose “defensive measures” against countries not sharing tax information (here, Panama)? The “defensive measures” had to do with capital gains, income tax, transfer pricing rules and rules on capital and re-
Joost Pauwelyn 02 Oct 2015 3 min read

The Policy and Politics of an ISDS Tobacco Carveout

Inside US Trade reports from the TPP negotiations: The U.S. proposal on tobacco tabled here would give countries the option to prevent tobacco companies from challenging tobacco control measures under investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), using a concept that already exists under the U.S. investment model called "
Simon Lester 02 Oct 2015 3 min read

WTO Complaints About Discrimination Against Other Countries

Todd Tucker has been blogging about the recently circulated Argentina - Financial Services (DS453) panel report (see here, here, and here), based on a claim by Panama against Argentina, and he has some good general background and some exploration of the nuances. There's lots to talk about in this
Simon Lester 02 Oct 2015 3 min read

Denying "Scandalous" Trademark Registrations

This is from the Strong Language blog, which bills itself as "A sweary blog about swearing" (in the excerpt below, I've deleted the controversial words from this family friendly blog!): Under the federal trademark statute, trademarks that are found to be “scandalous” can’t be registered
Simon Lester 30 Sep 2015 1 min read

The Pre-History of ISDS

This is the intro of a new article by history professor Ben Coates, in the Journal of American History: On July 28, 1904, the gunboat Bolívar arrived in Guanoco, in northeastern Venezuela. It carried a contingent of Venezuelan soldiers with instructions to seize the property of the New York and
Simon Lester 30 Sep 2015 1 min read

What Should Trade Negotiators Negotiate About?

Maybe trade negotiators could negotiate about this: State and municipal governments in the United States each year offer some $80 billion in tax breaks and other subsidies to encourage large companies to do what they would do regardless — invest in new plants, office space and equipment in the hopes of
Simon Lester 28 Sep 2015 2 min read

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development

From the journal Trade, Law and Development: Call for Submissions Special Issue on Trade & Public Health Founded in 2009, the philosophy of Trade, Law and Development has been to generate and sustain a constructive and democratic debate on emergent issues in international economic law and to serve as a
Simon Lester 28 Sep 2015 1 min read

More on the "Right to Regulate" in ISDS

Last week, I said that it wasn't clear to me how the "right to regulate" provision in the European Commission's proposed TTIP ISDS rules would function, or whether it would have any real impact.  Now I see that some people are worried it will
Simon Lester 25 Sep 2015 2 min read

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Why Section 338 Does Not Work in a GATT/WTO World: Lessons from Trade Law History

On July 21, 2026, President Trump exercised his authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (hereinafter Section 338) to impose the maximum amount of additional tariffs (fifty per cent) on Canadian cars, alcohol, and dairy, owing to his determination of Canada’s discriminatory treatment of US exports.
23 Jul 2026 10 min read

EU WTO Reform Proposal Seeks To Extend Accession-Based State Enterprise Rules To All Members

In a new WTO reform paper entitled "Further Reflections on Disciplines, Subsidies and Industrial policy," the EU argues for stronger WTO disciplines on the behavior of state enterprises.
17 Jul 2026 5 min read

Governments Make Their Case Against Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs

Last month, USTR made a determination in its Section 301 investigation into "Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure To Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced With Forced Labor."
10 Jul 2026 5 min read

How Should the EU Get Tough with China? Unilateral Action vs. WTO Complaints

I've seen several recent calls for the EU to get tougher in its economic relations with China, along with arguments that it has been too slow to act against the Chinese economic threat.
06 Jul 2026 4 min read

Trump Administration Decides Not To Extend USMCA for Another Term: What Does That Mean Exactly?

Today, as part of the first joint review of the USMCA, the three governments held a virtual meeting.
01 Jul 2026 4 min read

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