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Ethanol and ISDS

I'm not going to stop criticizing ISDS, but while it is still here (and that may be for a long time), I'm going to look for ways to use it to promote my political preferences.  Here's an example: “THEY are jealous,” says Terry Branstad,
Simon Lester 26 Apr 2015 1 min read

Challenge to an omission of a systemic nature – US – Shrimp II (Viet Nam) and Argentina – Import Measures

This is a guest post from trade lawyer Adarsh Ramanujan : The Appellate Body, in its report circulated on April 7, 2015, rejected Viet Nam’s appeal in US – Shrimp II (Viet Nam) (DS429). The appeal was limited to one Article 11, DSU claim, covering the Panel’s rejection of Vietnam’
Simon Lester 26 Apr 2015 5 min read

An Almost Unintelligible Measure of Benefit in the Recent Currency Bill?

In the previous “Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act”, the benefit to the recipient from an undervalued currency was defined in an intuitive way. According to this Act, a benefit exists in the case of an undervalued currency: ... if the exporter or producer receives or is entitled to receive more
Marc Benitah 24 Apr 2015 1 min read

Online Gambling in the U.S.

It's booming, at least in fantasy sports: The daily fantasy sports boom began somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean in March 2009. On a trip from Britain to Texas, flying to the South by Southwest festival, Eccles pored through a copy of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA)
Simon Lester 23 Apr 2015 1 min read

The "Right to Regulate" and FET

I was watching the Senate Finance Committee markup of the TPA bill last night -- I really enjoy the "voice votes," where they all speak as loudly as they can! -- and I was struck by an exchange between Senator Sherrod Brown and USTR General Counsel Tim Reif.
Simon Lester 23 Apr 2015 1 min read

Sovereignty in the TPA Bill

Last year, I mentioned a puzzling provision on "sovereignty" in the TPA bill introduced in the Senate.  This year's Senate TPA Bill has the same provision, but I'm going to highlight a different aspect: SEC. 8. SOVEREIGNTY. ... (c) DISPUTE SETTLEMENT REPORTS.—Reports, including findings
Simon Lester 22 Apr 2015 1 min read

The Problem With Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements

From some economists: Recent decades have witnessed two major trends in international trade. First, technological progress and falling trade barriers have led to the emergence of global value chains and to a surge in international trade in intermediate goods. Second, there has been a proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs)
Simon Lester 22 Apr 2015 1 min read

More on Best Treatment and National Treatment

Here's the conclusion of the paper by Arwel Davies that I mentioned a while back: The advice for Treaty drafters is that there is some scope for clarifying the TNLF [treatment no less favourable] standard, to the extent that phrases such as ‘no less favourable than the most
Simon Lester 20 Apr 2015 1 min read

Are Complainants Abandoning TBT Agreement Article 2.2?

This is from a paper about WTO dispute settlement published on the ICTSD website as part of the E15 process: there is evidence that the existing ... perception that claims under Article 2.2 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) are extremely difficult to win is having
Simon Lester 20 Apr 2015 1 min read

Could the Uruguay Round Be Completed Today?

This is from Pierre Sauvé and Marta Soprana: The ASCM, like the Uruguay Round of which it formed a part, was quite clearly the byproduct of a peculiar, “end of history” moment. It is doubtful that such disciplines could easily be replicated today given the vastly more questioning attitudes that
Simon Lester 20 Apr 2015 1 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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

The Section 301 Surge Is Upon Us: Investigating Excess Capacity and Production

The first of a large batch of expected Section 301 investigations has arrived, as USTR announced yesterday that it was initiating investigations on acts, policies, and practices of various countries/economies "relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors."
12 Mar 2026 3 min read

Debunking the "Hyperglobalization" Trade Policy Myth

Policy is often shaped by narratives, and recently there has been a bipartisan effort to create a narrative that, starting in the early 1990s, globalization and free trade went too far.
03 Mar 2026 8 min read

Guest Post: Are President Trump’s New Section 122 Tariffs Legal?

This is a guest post from Bryan Riley and Joe Bishop-Henchman. Bryan is Director of the Free Trade Initiative at the National Taxpayers Union; Joe is Executive Vice President at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation President Trump has issued new 10% tariffs, shortly after raised to 15%, based on Section
24 Feb 2026 6 min read

Section 122 as a (Partial) Replacement for the IEEPA Tariffs

Apparently, this is the era of dusting off old international economic policy statutes and figuring out what they mean and how they work. After the Supreme Court's ruling today in Learning Resources, holding that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs," we are now
20 Feb 2026 5 min read

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