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Reinterpreting WTO Non-Discrimination Obligations

The excellent and interesting Villars Framework 2.0, which was recently released, expresses concern that "[j]udicial balancing tests may leave states uncertain as to which sustainability standards are permitted and which are not," and offers the following reform proposal related to PPM-based standards: This problem of uncertainty,
Simon Lester 13 Feb 2024 1 min read

Katherine Tai on China and Tariffs

I have one final post on U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai's event at the University of Chicago last week, addressing issues related to China and tariffs. First up, there was this exchange about China: Q: Some people, even Trump haters, will give him some credit for beginning
Simon Lester 11 Feb 2024 3 min read

Katherine Tai on Trade and Peace

Here's another item from the Katherine Tai event at the University of Chicago last week: Q: So let's go back to that comment you made about McDonald's, and that old theory that if there were a McDonald's in two countries, they would
Simon Lester 11 Feb 2024 1 min read

Guest Post: The WTO E-commerce Agreement and its relationship to existing WTO rights and obligations

This is a guest post from Ines Willemyns, Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School Earlier this week, the draft chairs text of the WTO e-commerce negotiations was leaked to the public. The text, dated 15 January 2024, puts forward a “commercially meaningful and inclusive package”, reflecting
Simon Lester 08 Feb 2024 5 min read

Rep. Don Beyer and Bruce Hirsh on Trade Agreements and National Security

At a House Ways and Means Committee trade hearing yesterday, Congressman Don Beyer asked a good question of former USTR official Bruce Hirsh about possible abuse of the national security exception in trade agreements: Mr. Hirsh, you mentioned that, you talked about the dispute over whether WTO panels can second
Simon Lester 08 Feb 2024 2 min read

RSS Feed

Just a quick blog housekeeping note: For those of you who follow the blog via an RSS feed, one version of the feed wasn't working, and if you notice any problems it is probably better to use this one instead: https://worldtradelaw.typepad.com/ielpblog/rss.xml
Simon Lester 07 Feb 2024 1 min read

Katherine Tai on the GE Corn USMCA Dispute

Following up on my last post, here's another quote from U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai speaking at the University of Chicago yesterday, this one in response to a question on the GE Corn USMCA dispute: Q: Your office is bringing an international trade complaint against Mexico under
Simon Lester 07 Feb 2024 2 min read

Katherine Tai on Free Trade Enthusiasts

U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai spoke at the University of Chicago yesterday. I'll do a couple posts about her comments there, but to kick things off, here's something she said in response to a question involving Milton Friedman: Q: We're at the University
Simon Lester 07 Feb 2024 2 min read

Katherine Tai on Trade and Antitrust

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke today at a conference on "Antitrust, Regulation and the Next World Order." She had the following to say about the connection between trade policy and antitrust policy: A lot of the change vectors that we are grappling with in trade are
Simon Lester 31 Jan 2024 4 min read

The U.S. Domestic Politics of International Trade Dispute Mechanisms Involving China

This is from an article by Chris Horseman of Borderlex on the progress (or lack thereof) on WTO dispute settlement reform: “No US trade representative is going to go before Congress and say, ‘I’ve agreed to binding dispute settlement between China and the US’. It is simply not politically
Simon Lester 30 Jan 2024 1 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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