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De Facto National Treatment Discrimination in Seal Products

From the first EU written submission in the Seal Products dispute: 322. Canada argues that 90-95% of its seal  products, which derive from large-scale commercial hunts, cannot be placed on the EU market whereas seal products of certain EU Member States may potentially be placed on the market because they
Simon Lester 02 Jan 2013 2 min read

De Facto MFN Discrimination in Seal Products

From the first EU written submission in the Seal Products dispute: 257. Canada argues that the Indigenous Communities exception  de facto  violates Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement since such exception effectively permits 100% of Greenlandic seal products to be placed on the EU market, but excludes virtually all
Simon Lester 26 Dec 2012 1 min read

EU posts first submission in Seal Products dispute

The submission can be found here: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/wtodispute/show.cfm?id=475&code=2#_eu-submissions Canada appears to be still hiding its submission from the public.  The submission has been leaked to various individuals, however, and I have seen a copy.  Reading the EU submission
Rob Howse 21 Dec 2012 1 min read

Yet More WTO Complaints?

Now that Russia is in. From Reuters: Assuming WTO relations are set up quickly, the United States and Russia could file complaints against each other in the coming months. Earlier in December, Russia banned imports of meat containing any trace of ractopamine, a feed additive widely used in the United
Simon Lester 20 Dec 2012 1 min read

"Benefit" in the Canada - Renewable Energy Case

As I said yesterday, it's not easy to summarize the "benefit" issue in the Canada - Renewable Energy panel report.  But just quickly, the dissenter puts the two sides succinctly.  The majority view (as desribed by the dissenter): 9.1 ... In essence, the Panel majority has
Simon Lester 20 Dec 2012 2 min read

More on those WTO Dispute Settlement Jobs

Amy Porges points me to more details on the WTO hiring in dispute settlement: Vacancy Notice No.: EXT/T/12-07    Title: Dispute Settlement Lawyer    Grade: To be confirmed    Contract Type: Temporary appointment    Issued On: 14 November 2012    Original published date: 14 November 2012  (42 day(s) until closing date)    Republished
Simon Lester 20 Dec 2012 1 min read

The Renewable Energy / Feed-In Tariff Panel Report

From today's WTO panel report in Canada - Renewable Energy/Feed-In Tariff: 7.7 Throughout these proceedings, however, the complainants have emphasized that in contesting the WTO-consistency of the challenged measures, they do not question the legitimacy of the objectives pursued by the Government of Ontario through the
Simon Lester 19 Dec 2012 1 min read

Flavoring Issues in the Proposed EU Tobacco Products Directive

From the proposed revision to the EU's tobacco products directive, mentioned in the last post: (15) The likelihood of diverging regulation is further increased by concerns over tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco products, having a characterising flavour other than tobacco, which may facilitate uptake of tobacco consumption or
Simon Lester 19 Dec 2012 1 min read

Plain Packaging and Flavored Cigarettes in the EU

From Reuters: The European Union's executive Commission is to propose larger health warnings on cigarette packets and a total ban on flavorings such as menthol, a draft revision of EU tobacco rules seen by Reuters showed on Monday. The proposals stop short of forcing all cigarettes to be
Simon Lester 17 Dec 2012 1 min read

Can the WTO Handle All These Disputes?

A few months ago, I mentioned the surge in WTO disputes this year.  Well, they keep coming, and it may be starting to strain the WTO's resources.  Reuters reports: A surge in trade disputes has forced the World Trade Organization to reallocate staff to cope with a flood
Simon Lester 17 Dec 2012 1 min read

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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

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