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Director of the Trade Agreement Secretariat

With cases like the CAFTA labor complaint against Guatemala going on, this might be an interesting job: The Trade Agreement Secretariat, is looking for an energetic, innovative Director who will enjoy working in a dynamic and mission-driven organization. The ideal candidate will be responsible for overseeing the impartial administration of
Simon Lester 10 Nov 2014 1 min read

The CAFTA Labor Complaint Against Guatemala

The U.S. complaint against Guatemala for failure to enforce labor laws -- mentioned here -- seems to be going forward.  The first U.S. written submission is now online here.  Here's an excerpt: 2. This submission demonstrates that Guatemala has breached its obligation under Article 16.2.
Simon Lester 06 Nov 2014 4 min read

COULD WTO "AUTHENTIC" TEXTS IN THE THREE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES CONTAIN A TRANSLATION ERROR ?

According to Article XVI:6 of WTO Agreement, the texts of the WTO Agreements are authentic in each of the three WTO official languages. What happens then when an Appellate Body’s interpretation made on the basis of the English text of an Agreement is unsustainable on the basis on
Marc Benitah 05 Nov 2014 2 min read

What Will Republicans Do on Trade with Control of Congress?

The big, and not unexpected, news of yesterday is that Republicans now control both houses of Congress, for the first time since 2006.  One thing this will do is help the GOP to set the agenda on trade policy and trade negotiations. So what will they do with their newfound
Simon Lester 05 Nov 2014 1 min read

Nit-Picky Comment on India - Agricultural Products

This is from the recent panel report in India - Agricultural Products: 7.791. In its panel request, the United States claimed that India acted inconsistently with Annex B(5)(a) to (5)(d) because it failed to, inter alia, identify the parts of its AI measures which, in substance,
Simon Lester 31 Oct 2014 1 min read

The Role of the EU and the Member States in Trade Policy

From the European Commission: The Commission decided today to request an opinion of the EU Court of Justice on the competence to sign and ratify a trade agreement with Singapore. Commissioner De Gucht said: 'I have been saying for months that we need to clarify the interpretation of the
Simon Lester 31 Oct 2014 1 min read

Trade Law Case Notes

From the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Oxford University Press: Dear colleagues, We are writing to invite you to join an exciting new project undertaken by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Oxford University Press. The Oxford Reports on International Law (ORIL) brings together decisions on
Simon Lester 31 Oct 2014 2 min read

WTO Legal Jobs Available

As you may have heard, WTO dispute settlement is getting pretty busy these days, which explains why the WTO Secretariat is looking for lawyers to work on these cases: -- Grade 9 lawyers (at least 8 years experience) -- Grade 7 lawyers (at least 3 years experience) There are positions
Simon Lester 31 Oct 2014 1 min read

Who Should Be Able To Sue a Government in an International Tribunal?

As this blog's readers all know, under most investment treaties and investment chapters of trade agreements, foreign investors can sue a host government directly in an international tribunal, based on various obligations imposed on the government (fair and equitable treatment, etc.). For those who support this system, I&
Simon Lester 29 Oct 2014 1 min read

Reliving the Loewen NAFTA Case: Is a Court Ruling a Measure?

Following up on the post yesterday regarding U.S. government documents relating to the Loewen NAFTA case, turns out there was a lot of repetition in those documents.  The main substantive issue was whether court rulings constitute "measures," and how the U.S. should approach this issue as
Simon Lester 28 Oct 2014 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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