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Selling Corvettes in Korea?

This article doesn't sound all that hopeful: The revised bilateral free trade agreement between Korea and the US has made favorable the import for the Chevrolet Corvette Coupe into Korea. This will be initiated by General Motors Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors from Friday,
Simon Lester 02 May 2012 1 min read

Is Protectionism Countercyclical?

Over at Vox, economist Andrew Rose argues that "maybe protectionism isn't countercyclical after all," that is, protectionism does not correlate with economic downturns.  He looks at a number of factors, but two in particular stood out to me. One factor is whether economic growth (or lack
Simon Lester 30 Apr 2012 1 min read

Funding the Plain Packaging WTO Litigation

In the category of "things that will surprise nobody," the FT reports the following: Two of the world’s biggest tobacco companies are providing legal support to member countries at the World Trade Organisation that are threatening to take Australia to international court over the world’s toughest
Simon Lester 30 Apr 2012 1 min read

More on a U.S. - China BIT

From Reuters: A top U.S. Republican lawmaker on T hursday called on the Obama administration to negotiate an investment treaty with China and to increase pressure on the world's second-largest economy to make trade and currency reforms. ... Camp's call for the United States to begin
Simon Lester 26 Apr 2012 1 min read

Interpretations, Clarifications, and Interpretative Clarifications

A few years ago, I did two posts on the difference between "interpretations" by WTO Members under WTO Agreement Article IX:2 and "clarifications" by panels and the Appellate Body under DSU Article 3.2.  Based on the statements by the Appellate Body quoted in the
Simon Lester 26 Apr 2012 1 min read

Meet the New BIT, Same as the Old BIT

That's the way Global Trade Watch sees the 2012 US Model BIT, which was announced on Friday.  They have a tracked changes comparison of the old one and new one.  As far as I can see, there is not much difference in terms of substantive obligations.  Luke Peterson
Simon Lester 22 Apr 2012 1 min read

Implementing the Clove Cigarettes Ruling

Speaking of Todd, he also has a long post in which he discusses the timing of implementation in the Clove Cigarettes case, and various options the U.S. might have for implementing. This is just off the top of my head, and I haven't put too much thought
Simon Lester 17 Apr 2012 3 min read

Banning All Flavored Cigarettes

Todd Tucker of Global Trade Watch points to a recent Brazilian ban on all flavored cigarettes: Unless you're an avid reader of Spanish and Portuguese language news wires, you probably missed Brazil's announcement last month of a ban on all flavored cigarettes: cloves, chocolates, and even
Simon Lester 17 Apr 2012 1 min read

Export Subsidies Aren't Really Prohibited

As we all know, SCM Agreement Article 3 says that "subsidies contingent, in law or in fact, whether solely or as one of several other conditions, upon export performance" -- in other words, export subsidies -- "shall be prohibited."  So, no export subsidies at all right?
Simon Lester 15 Apr 2012 2 min read

Interpretation and Institutional Choice at the WTO

Over at Opinio Juris, some familiar names are discussing a new paper by Joel Trachtman and Greg Shaffer, “Interpretation and Institutional Choice at the WTO.”  Here's how the authors describe the paper: Our article develops a new framework for understanding the drafting and interpretation of the agreements of
Simon Lester 11 Apr 2012 3 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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

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

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