International Economic Law and Policy Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • WorldTradeLaw.net
Sign in Subscribe

Human Health vs. Trade Liberalization

If I had been blogging in 1990, I probably would have commented on this statement by the Thailand - Cigarettes GATT panel: 73. The Panel then defined the issues which arose under this provision. In agreement with the parties to the dispute and the expert from the WHO, the Panel
Simon Lester 16 Jan 2014 1 min read

More About Finding the Middle Ground on Trade

The other day I wondered about whether there was a middle ground to be found on currency issues, trying to balance out the views of certain members of Congress and U.S. trading partners.  As reported by the NY Times, the same issue may arise for the environment: The Obama
Simon Lester 15 Jan 2014 2 min read

More on Regulation and Trade

I posted recently about what "regulatory trade barriers," a term that gets thrown around a lot in the context of the TTIP negotiations, might mean.  Trade lawyer Ted Posner offered up a comment, and I wanted to respond to a couple of his points.  (And by the way,
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2014 3 min read

Debating Bali and the Future of the WTO:Webcast Mon Jan 13

This Monday I will have a free-ranging debate about the Bali result and the future of the WTO with Bernard Hoekman and Petros Mavroidis (David Palmeter will moderate).  The debate will be webcast live 1730-1615 CET (Florence time) from the Global Governance Programme at the European University Institute.  This is
Rob Howse 10 Jan 2014 1 min read

Currency Language in the TPA Bill

Here's the relevant text: (11) CURRENCY.—The principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to currency practices is that parties to a trade agreement with the United States avoid manipulating exchange rates in order to prevent effective balance of payments adjustment or to gain an unfair
Simon Lester 09 Jan 2014 1 min read

To What Extent Does Plain Packaging "Encumber" Trademarks?

From an article by law profs Susy Frankel and Daniel Gervais: The Australian plain packaging measures go practically as far as one can go in terms of imposing encumbrances on trademark owners. If, as just mentioned, the rights and interests of trademark owners are best seen as a continuum, then
Simon Lester 09 Jan 2014 1 min read

"Sovereignty" in the TPA Bill

This is from the TPA bill introduced in Congress today: SEC. 8. SOVEREIGNTY. (a) UNITED STATES LAW TO PREVAIL IN EVENT OF CONFLICT.—No provision of any trade agreement entered into under section 3(b), nor the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, that is inconsistent
Simon Lester 09 Jan 2014 1 min read

A Currency Manipulation "Nuclear Option"

Here is the "remedy" portion of a proposal from the American Automotive Policy Council for currency manipulation provisions in the TPP: If a TPP member is found to have breached its currency commitments under the agreement, other TPP members shall be entitled to suspend the tariff benefits of
Simon Lester 09 Jan 2014 1 min read

Eli Lilly NAFTA Chapter 11 Policy Forum

As mentioned before the holidays, we will be holding a policy forum at Cato on the Eli Lilly NAFTA Chapter 11 case, on January 16.  You can register to attend here: http://www.cato.org/events/patents-public-health-international-law-eli-lilly-nafta-chapter-11-case Henning explained the case about a year ago, here.  In a nutshell, the
Simon Lester 06 Jan 2014 2 min read

Good News for the Airbus-Boeing Dispute Lawyers?

From the Washington Post: Members of Boeing’s machinists union on Friday voted by a slim margin to accept the company’s proposal of a long-term contract that will guarantee construction of a new long-range wide-body aircraft in the Puget Sound region, in exchange for significant wage and retirement benefit
Simon Lester 06 Jan 2014 1 min read

About

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Expert commentary on the law, politics and economics of international trade and investment

Sign up for email notifications

[email protected]
Subscribe

Featured

Tracking Goods Exports under the Trump Administration's Trade Policies

My sense is that one of the reasons some traditionally pro-trade members of Congress have continued to support Trump's trade policies, despite misgivings they may have about tariffs, is because they hope these policies will pry open foreign markets, leading to increased US exports.
07 May 2026 8 min read

Could Congress Extend the USMCA for Another Term?

People have been assuming that the decision on whether to extend the USMCA for another term is up to President Trump, but based on the language of the USMCA related to the upcoming joint review, could Congress actually have the power to make this decision on its own?
04 May 2026 4 min read

Is There No Going Back on Trade? What Is the Path Forward? A Response to Lighthizer

Former U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has a new essay in Foreign Affairs, and I have some thoughts. I'm going to start with his brief big picture points on the direction of U.S. trade policy, and then go through a couple of the specific concepts he emphasizes.
27 Apr 2026 6 min read

The Section 301 Excess Capacity Investigation Needs Less Madness, More Method

Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s emergency tariffs under IEEPA  unconstitutional, the administration scrambled to rebuild its tariff wall. While the announcement of Section 122 tariffs immediately following the ruling will provide a temporary patch, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office quickly began to utilize another
24 Apr 2026 6 min read

War Tariffs

This is a co-authored post by Kathleen Claussen and Tim Meyer. Last week, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing new tariffs of 50 percent of the value of any product coming from any country that sells weapons or provides military aid to Iran. Some commentators questioned
14 Apr 2026 5 min read

Topics

2008 Presidential Election

25 posts

2012 Republican Primary

6 posts

2020 Democratic Primary

22 posts

2020 Presidential Campaign

6 posts

2024 Presidential Campaign

9 posts

2024 Republican Primary

9 posts

Announcements

27 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

59 posts

Domestic Trade Powers

10 posts

Dormant Commerce Clause

3 posts

DSU 25 Interim Appeals

43 posts

DSU Article 11

13 posts

Economic Integration

8 posts

Economic Statecraft

10 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

6 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

13 posts

FTAs - General

22 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

9 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

17 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

19 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

38 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

60 posts

Non-Market Economies

6 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

19 posts

Precedent

25 posts

Public Views of Trade

9 posts

Rare Earths

1 post

Robert Lighthizer

18 posts

Russia Trade Sanctions

17 posts

Sanctions

15 posts

Section 301

12 posts

Sovereignty

9 posts

Speech

1 post

SPS/TBT

5 posts

Standards of Review

7 posts

State Enterprises

7 posts

Sub-National Trade Issues

5 posts

Subsidies

83 posts

Tariffs

3 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

21 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

21 posts

Trade and Environment

118 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

9 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

26 posts

Trade and Labor

25 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

35 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

11 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

10 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

63 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

54 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

32 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

60 posts

US-China Trade Relations

27 posts

USMCA

19 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

23 posts

USTR

16 posts

WTO - General

25 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

177 posts

WTO DS Reform

13 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts
Powered by Ghost