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Katherine Tai on Online Business Models and Digital Regulation

U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai spoke recently at a SeedAI event and had some interesting things to say about both online business models and digital trade regulation. I'll start with a quote that reflects what she has said many times about sorting out domestic digital regulation before
Simon Lester 18 Mar 2024 5 min read

Did NAFTA Push White Male Social Conservatives to the Republican Party?

This is the abstract of a new paper titled "Local Economic and Political Effects of Trade Deals: Evidence from NAFTA", which argues that many "white, less educated voters left the Democratic Party" due to NAFTA: Why have white, less-educated voters left the Democratic Party? We highlight
Simon Lester 17 Mar 2024 3 min read

Guest Post: Back from the WTO MC13 – A brief report and some remarks from four scholars who were in Abu Dhabi

This is a guest post by several people from the Research Chair on New Challenges of Economic Globalization, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada: Carla Gomez, Ph.D. Researcher; Antoine Comont, Ph.D. Researcher; Van Anh Ly, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the Research Chair on New Challenges of Economic Globalization;
Simon Lester 11 Mar 2024 10 min read

Let Them Eat Cake? Reflections on the Labor Provisions in the New India-EFTA Agreement

I’ve never understood the expression: they want to have their cake and eat it too. Who on this planet wants to hold onto a piece of cake and not eat it?!? I was at a birthday party this weekend, and my 5-year-old asked me to hold his plate of
Desiree LeClercq 10 Mar 2024 4 min read

Mexico Invokes Public Morals, Exhaustible Natural Resources, Indigenous Peoples Exceptions in GE Corn USMCA Dispute

Mexico's initial written submission in the GE Corn USMCA dispute was recently posted. The English public version is here. There's a lot in there and I'm not going to go through it all in this post. I just thought it was worth noting quickly
Simon Lester 09 Mar 2024 4 min read

Resolving the Biden Administration's Internal Debate on International Digital Rules, and Reengaging in Negotiations

I've already made these points for the trade policy crowd, but I have now tried to make my pitch on a way forward for the Biden administration on international digital trade rules slightly more accessible (i.e., without so many blockquotes of international legal texts!). Below are some
Simon Lester 07 Mar 2024 3 min read

Katherine Tai on USMCA Dispute Settlement and the USMCA Six Year Review

At a Brookings event yesterday, Josh Meltzer of Brookings had some interesting exchanges with U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai on USMCA dispute settlement and the USMCA six year review. Here's the one on dispute settlement: Meltzer: What I'd like to do is ask you a
Simon Lester 07 Mar 2024 8 min read

Conversations at WTO Ministerial Side Events: Subsidy Races and Trade Remedies

As part of the WTO Ministerial Conference last week, there were some side events going on. I was watching one called "Business Forum at MC13" and came across some interesting discussion of subsidy races and trade remedies. The question that kicked off the subsidy race discussion was about
Simon Lester 03 Mar 2024 3 min read

The Role of WTO Case Law in a USMCA RRLM Proceeding

Here is an interesting exchange from last week's hearing in the USMCA San Martín mine labor dispute about the role of WTO case law in interpreting the USMCA provisions at issue: Panelist: Mexico raised the question that the United States has not provided any legal authorities for its
Simon Lester 03 Mar 2024 2 min read

WTO Adverse Effects Complaints vs. Domestic CVD Cases

Subsidies have been in the news a lot recently, as China's subsidies continue to cause concerns, and the Biden administration and others are now increasing their own use of subsidies. In trade policy, the reaction to foreign subsidies tends to be an anti-subsidy (aka, countervailing duty) case carried
Simon Lester 27 Feb 2024 3 min read

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Jamieson Greer on the 30 Year Aberration in U.S. Trade Policy

When he was in Davos last week for the World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer talked a bit about U.S. trade policy history and described a recent period during which, in his view, U.S. trade policy shifted away from tariffs/protectionism and towards free trade.
29 Jan 2026 6 min read

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

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