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Do WTO Disputes Increase Trade?

It seems obvious that a successful WTO complaint, properly implemented by the responding party, would bring down trade barriers and increase trade.  But a recent paper by some political scientists calls that into question: To assess whether disputes increase trade, we analyze detailed data on imports values at the country-product-year
Simon Lester 02 Sep 2013 2 min read

The ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law

From the folks at ELSA: The European Law Students’ Association (ELSA), as the world’s largest non-political law student’s association, will launch the 12th edition of the prestigious ELSA Moot Competition on WTO law in cooperation with the WTO itself, on the 15th of September 2013. The competition is
Simon Lester 29 Aug 2013 1 min read

Clove Cigarettes Confusion

I thought I understood the Clove Cigarettes compliance/suspension process, but based on the U.S. statement at today's DSB meeting, I'm no longer sure that I do: • Second, we are concerned by the erratic behavior of Indonesia in relation to whether to sequence proceedings under
Simon Lester 23 Aug 2013 1 min read

The COOL Article 21.5 Complaints

... are here: Canada and Mexico. We won't learn much about the details of the argumentation until the submissions start coming.
Simon Lester 22 Aug 2013 1 min read

The India - Solar Cells Case (DS456)

For those of you interested in the India - Solar Cells WTO dispute (DS456), Indian attorney Srikanth Hariharan has offered some commentary. Two things to note.  First, I couldn't make his footnotes come through. And second, I haven't thought about the case yet, and I'
Simon Lester 22 Aug 2013 7 min read

(Total) Free Trade for Environmental Goods

As many of you probably know, there is lots of talk these days about free trade in environmental goods.  APEC has a list of such goods on which tariffs are to be removed, and President Obama has proposed a tariff-lowering agreement at the WTO. But there's a flaw
Simon Lester 20 Aug 2013 1 min read

PPMs in U.S. Law and Politics: Selling Eggs in California

Having just mentioned PPMs in WTO law the other day, I was excited to see the same issue arise under U.S. law, in relation to a California law governing egg production.  Here's the WSJ explaining the issue in an editorial: Animal-rights activists have been lobbying Congress for
Simon Lester 16 Aug 2013 4 min read

Clove Cigarettes: The Next Step

Indonesia has requested authorization to suspend concessions or other obligations in the Clove Cigarettes dispute: The United States failed to implement the recommendations and rulings of the DSB with respect to Section 907(a)(1)(A) by the end of the reasonable period of time, and no mutually acceptable arrangement
Simon Lester 14 Aug 2013 1 min read

Hillman on Carbon Taxes and the WTO

Former AB Member Jennifer Hillman has a new paper on carbon taxes and WTO rules. Some excerpts: Can such a carbon tax be applied in a way that does not violate U.S. obligations under the WTO Agreements? I believe the answer is yes, provided that policymakers carefully design such
Simon Lester 14 Aug 2013 2 min read

More on Investor-State and Section 337

Back in February, I wondered whether Samsung could file an investor-state complaint -- under the KORUS FTA -- in the event that some of its components were excluded from the U.S. through a Section 337 determination.  Recent developments in this area now offer up another possible complaint. As everyone
Simon Lester 13 Aug 2013 1 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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USMCA Review and Extension Predictions

When the idea of an expiration clause was suggested during the NAFTA renegotiation, I was against it from the start, and Inu and I wrote a pretty critical piece about it at the time. A review is great, we said, let's definitely have reviews, and there are plenty of ways to do that.
08 Apr 2026 5 min read

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

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