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Trade Balances and Trade Interventions and Trade Protectionism

Last week, finance professor Michael Pettis spoke at an event about a new paper he co-authored. From what I can tell, Pettis has had some influence recently on the U.S. trade policy debate, but I have found his views hard to decipher. He and I have interacted a
Simon Lester 06 Oct 2024 8 min read

Seminar on Legal Architecture of Remedies in the WTO Agreement

Announcement: Interested WTO lawyers are invited to a one-hour academic feedback seminar on Zoom, hosted by Prof. Geraldo Vidigal, University of Amsterdam, to comment on a draft article by Lothar Ehring, written to pay tribute to Frieder Roessler. The paper explains the legal architecture of remedies in the WTO
Simon Lester 03 Oct 2024 1 min read

The EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement: Experimentation with Data Flows Obligations and Exceptions Continues

Over the past couple years, I've been looking at how digital trade agreements set out data flows obligations and exceptions. I've got a new one to examine, as the EU has published a pre-legal scrub version of its digital trade agreement with Singapore, building on
Simon Lester 29 Sep 2024 4 min read

Will USMCA Be Renewed in 2026?

At a Baker Institute event last week, C.J. Mahoney, who was a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative during the Trump administration, argued that renewal of the USMCA under the Article 34.7 review clause was unlikely to happen in 2026. He first provided some background on the provision: ... USMCA
Simon Lester 22 Sep 2024 5 min read

New Discussions of Appeal/Review in the DS Reform Process

In July, I mentioned that the the WTO Dispute Settlement Reform Process is underway, and that people can follow it a few weeks behind the actual developments, as meeting minutes are derestricted.  The Minutes of the Heads of Delegation meeting from July 18 are now available. Focusing on the Appeal/
Simon Lester 20 Sep 2024 3 min read

ANZSIL International Economic Law Interest Group: Call for Papers

This is from the ANZSIL International Economic Law Interest Group (IELIG): 2024 Workshop The 2024 IELIG Workshop will be held via Zoom on Friday 29 November 2024. Its aim is to provide an informal setting for discussion of topical issues and works in progress. We are honoured to have Prof
Simon Lester 20 Sep 2024 1 min read

Designing an Economic Security Safeguards Mechanism to Reform the WTO Security Exception

During the WTO Public Forum, the TradeExperettes published a report entitled, Ten Quick Wins for: Re-globalization and Resilience in Trade. The report captures a collection of terrific trade analysts (who happen to be women) short, policy briefs that capture ideas and potential solutions for urgent issues for the multilateral
Mona Paulsen 17 Sep 2024 3 min read

Guest Post: A Tribute to Frieder Roessler from Petros Mavroidis

This is a guest post by Petros Mavroidis of Columbia Law School. The piece will be published in a forthcoming issue of the World Trade Review. An Uncommon Mind: Frieder Roessler’s Legacy Petros C. Mavroidis* *Columbia Law School 1. Doubts, Persistent Doubts “U-huh”. This is what I recall
Simon Lester 16 Sep 2024 9 min read

Trump the China Trade Deficit Hawk and China Security Dove?

Trade policy came up at last week's presidential debate, with a somewhat traditional discussion of tariffs at the start, and then a shift at the end to security-related issues. Kamala Harris started it off by referring to Trump's proposed universal baseline tariffs as a sales
Simon Lester 15 Sep 2024 4 min read

Tariff History Emerges as a Key Issue in the U.S. Presidential Contest (Just Kidding!)

As the culture wars have dominated the political debate in recent years, it feels as though the quality of the economic policy discussion has suffered. Some of the economic topics that keep coming up are of little interest to most voters, and are being talked about in a way that
Simon Lester 09 Sep 2024 7 min read

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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

Competing Views of Sovereignty: The Haves vs. The Have Nots in AI (and Steel)

It's interesting to watch how political leaders craft narratives around economic competition that reflect their own country's strengths and weaknesses.
29 Jun 2026 4 min read

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 8 min read

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