J.D. Vance on Tariffs

It was not a particularly productive discussion, but here is a transcript of NBC's Kristen Welker talking to J.D. Vance about tariffs last weekend: Welker: Vice President Kamala Harris, in making her case, said that the tariff plans Donald Trump is proposing will hurt the middle class.

U.S. Leadership on Trade and Climate Policy

In a recent Foreign Affairs piece entitled "The Case for a Clean Energy Marshall Plan," Brian Deese -- the Director of the White House National Economic Council from 2021 to 2023 and a current economic adviser to Kamala Harris -- sets out a vision for how a Harris administration might

Guest Post: Are the revisions to the EU’s ‘Bolar’ system compatible with TRIPS?

This is a guest post from Maarten Meulenbelt, Chris Boyle, Lauren Shapiro, Maryanne Kamau, and Alix Vermulst of Sidley Austin. The full article on which the post is based is available here. In the EU, much has been written about the so-called “Pharma Review” proposals, published  by the European

Guest Post: Why couldn’t the Russia-Ukraine BIT be used to claim compensation for war damage and frozen Russian assets to satisfy these investment awards?

This is a guest post from Csongor István Nagy, Professor of Law at the University of Galway, Ireland, and at the University of Szeged, Hungary, and research professor at the HUN-REN Center for Social Sciences, Hungary At first it may raise eyebrows. But think it over! Why couldn’t

Non-Market Economy Status and Inducing Market-Oriented Reforms

For the purposes of U.S. anti-dumping/countervailing duty law, the Commerce Department maintains a list of non-market economies. Vietnam is one of the economies on that list. A March 2024 Congressional Research Service paper on "Vietnam’s Nonmarket Economy (NME) Status" notes that the government

What Do Americans Think about Trade Policy?

Scott Lincicome and some Cato Institute polling experts have worked with YouGov to put together what I think is the definitive work on Americans' views of trade policy. For me, two of the most important findings are: (1) American voters think of trade as much less important than other

Tim Walz on the Foreign Policy / Trade Policy Relationship

After Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate yesterday, there has been a lot of discussion of Walz's policy views. Vice-Presidents don't typically take the lead on trade policy, but nonetheless I thought it was worth mentioning something Walz said in a speech

Is the U.S. Going to Propose Security Exception Reforms?

During a DSB meeting in January 2023, the U.S. indicated that it would be seeking an "authoritative interpretation" of the GATT security exception: The United States believes that Members need to deepen their collective understanding of this issue that is so critical to all of us. We

What Would a Kamala Harris Trade Policy Look Like?

There was a lot of speculation last week about what Kamala Harris would do on trade policy (and various other policies). I thought this piece by Alan Beattie of the FT offered a very thoughtful and objective evaluation of where things might go on trade and industrial policy in a

WTO Member Statements on Appeal/Review in the DS Reform Process

The WTO Dispute Settlement Reform Process is underway. The WTO website provides brief overviews of the meetings as they happen, but for those of us who want more than just a short summary, we can follow it a few weeks behind the actual current developments as meeting minutes are derestricted.