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The TPP and Tobacco: More on the Carveout

Law profs Sergio Puig and Greg Shaffer want to get tobacco out of the TPP: The Obama administration is poised to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. If Congress passes the current trade promotion authority bill, the TPP will become subject to a simple up or down vote, without
Simon Lester 01 May 2015 2 min read

The TPP and GATT Article XXIV

This is from Inside U.S. Trade: the U.S. is negotiating market access [under the TPP] on the basis of bilateral offers, meaning it could end up imposing one tariff on Malaysian dairy products, for instance, and a different tariff for New Zealand. Here's my question: Would
Simon Lester 30 Apr 2015 1 min read

Do WTO Panels Use Judicial Economy to Favor the U.S. and EU as Defendants?

I would not have thought so, but political scientists Ryan Brutger and Julia Morse have data that says so: Abstract: Can international courts ever be independent of state influence? If not, how do courts manage the tension between legal principles and political concerns? We address these questions through an analysis
Simon Lester 30 Apr 2015 2 min read

Election Season and WTO AD Disputes

From a political science paper by Fouad Pervez: What explains the variation in timing of WTO disputes over antidumping duties? Without a clear domestic opposition group, countries have incentives to bring up disputes as quickly as possible so as to limit the harm to their domestic industries subject to these
Simon Lester 30 Apr 2015 1 min read

15th BIICL WTO Conference

The 15th BIICL WTO conference will be held in London on May 6 and 7.  Details are here, and a draft program is here.  I'll be chairing a roundtable on regulatory trade issues, but if that doesn't excite you, there are also lots of other panels:
Simon Lester 28 Apr 2015 1 min read

Telemedicine Policy Forum

I've put together a Cato policy forum on telemedicine, May 28 in DC.  This goes beyond international trade.  I'll have some things to say about trade, but then we'll get into more general health policy and con law issues: In the United States and
Simon Lester 27 Apr 2015 1 min read

President Obama Is Not Worried About ISDS Challenges. Should He Be?

This is President Obama talking about ISDS: "This is the notion that corporate America will be able to use this provision to eliminate our financial regulations and our food safety regulations and our consumer regulations. That’s just bunk. It’s not true. “ISDS is a form of dispute
Simon Lester 27 Apr 2015 3 min read

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

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Featured

A law of many meanings: Exchange Actions under the GATT and IMF

Earlier this week, Simon Lester posted about the EU’s concerns with the undervaluation of the Chinese currency. He situated the recent demands for trade restrictions against a longstanding debate about the function of GATT Article XV:4.
25 Jun 2026 7 min read

Does The EU Need Its Own Section 301 To Counter China's Distortions?

Recently, economists Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser suggested that the EU may need its own version of Section 301 in order to "confront China’s systemic distortions beyond piecemeal trade defence."
17 Jun 2026 7 min read

The Section 301 Forced Labor Import Ban Report

On June 2, 2026, USTR released its report on 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.
04 Jun 2026 11 min read

What To Expect from the USMCA Review?

The USMCA review is almost upon us. How exactly things will proceed is a bit unclear, as we've never done this sort of thing before, but July 1 is the six year anniversary of the USMCA's entry into force.
03 Jun 2026 15 min read

China in the World Trading System: A Response to Chad, and Some Comments on Froman-Greer

I'm going to use this post to (1) respond to Chad and (2) comment on an exchange between current U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer and former U.S. Trade Rep. Mike Froman at a recent CFR event.
01 Jun 2026 7 min read

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