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The "Mercantilism of Ideas"

From a paper by some economists, titled "The Case Against Patents": Current international trade negotiations that affect patents often occur as part of either the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which was signed in 1995 as part of the World Trade Organization negotiations,
Simon Lester 08 Feb 2013 1 min read

Liberalizing Cross-Border Trade in Higher Education

Here's something that the many academics reading this blog may be interested in.  I've mentioned MOOCs (massive open online courses) briefly a couple times.  Now I've written something more detailed:  A Cato paper called Liberalizing Cross-Border Trade in Higher Education: The Coming Revolution
Simon Lester 05 Feb 2013 1 min read

Will Deep Integration Sink the TPP?

From an op-ed in the Santiago Times: ... the insistence on achieving so-called “deep integration,” primarily of interest to U.S. negotiators, is undermining negotiations and obscuring what should be the ultimate goal of the TPP process: easier movement of goods and services across the Pacific. ... ... despite clear and
Simon Lester 04 Feb 2013 1 min read

Investor-State and Section 337

Bear with me for a second, I'm going to play a little fast and loose with the facts of an actual case here.  Consider the following scenario. Imagine Samsung has built an assembly factory for its smartphones and tablets here in the U.S.  It imports some components
Simon Lester 04 Feb 2013 1 min read

First Movers in Trade Agreements

A reader emails with this question: Are there any studies on the advantage of being a “first mover” in trade negotiations, and whether that makes a difference?  An example is the EU and GIs – does it benefit the EU to get out ahead and negotiate a series of free trade
Simon Lester 29 Jan 2013 1 min read

Retaliation Against Antigua's Retaliation

So let's say Antigua goes ahead with retaliating against the U.S. in the Gambling case.  How might the U.S. respond?  Here's one suggestion: A lawyer for a group on intellectual property rights warned on Monday that the tiny island nation of Antigua could face
Simon Lester 29 Jan 2013 1 min read

Aircraft Subsidies and the Return of Japan-Bashing

As the U.S. and EU continue to battle over whether billions of dollars in aircraft subsidies violate WTO rules, the NY Times has a strange article that -- perhaps time travelling back to the 1980s -- seems to think it has identified the real culprit: Japan!  OK, that may be overstating
Simon Lester 29 Jan 2013 3 min read

IEL MOOCs - Update

A little while back, I asked who would do the first international economic law MOOC (massive open online course).  If you interpret IEL broadly enough, we have a winner: The Law of the European Union, offered through Coursera, by a Leiden University professor. But there are still many opportunities for
Simon Lester 25 Jan 2013 1 min read

Antigua's Proposed Retaliation

In the comments on an older post, Brett Williams points to some news about Antigua's proposed retaliation in the Gambling case: http://torrentfreak.com/antigua-government-set-to-launch-pirate-website-to-punish-united-states-130124/  He then asks: Can anyone provide any information about the outcome of
Simon Lester 24 Jan 2013 1 min read

AB Member Tom Graham at Hofstra

Appellate Body Member Tom Graham will be giving a talk at Hofstra on Feb. 6 entitled “It Sure Looks Different From the Inside: Deciding International Trade Disputes at the WTO”. The title sounds promising, and from what I understand he will talk a bit about the use of the Vienna
Simon Lester 24 Jan 2013 1 min read

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Why Section 338 Does Not Work in a GATT/WTO World: Lessons from Trade Law History

On July 21, 2026, President Trump exercised his authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (hereinafter Section 338) to impose the maximum amount of additional tariffs (fifty per cent) on Canadian cars, alcohol, and dairy, owing to his determination of Canada’s discriminatory treatment of US exports.
23 Jul 2026 10 min read

EU WTO Reform Proposal Seeks To Extend Accession-Based State Enterprise Rules To All Members

In a new WTO reform paper entitled "Further Reflections on Disciplines, Subsidies and Industrial policy," the EU argues for stronger WTO disciplines on the behavior of state enterprises.
17 Jul 2026 5 min read

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

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