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The Seal Product Ban under EU Law

Following up on this post, blog reader Laurens Ankersmit points me to an EU General Court order deciding that the action brought against the seal product ban under EU law was inadmissible  because the applicants did not have standing, on the basis that they were not  directly and individually concerned
Simon Lester 03 Oct 2011 1 min read

PPMs in the Tuna Panel Report

There's still lots to uncover in the Tuna panel report.  Here's something on PPMs: 7.369 Finally, Mexico contends that the US measures unilaterally exert pressure on the Mexican fleet to change fishing areas and/or fishing methods, which Mexico argues is evidence of the de
Simon Lester 03 Oct 2011 2 min read

Trade in Everything: Flying Pigs

From the Daily Mail: An entire Boeing 747 has been hired at £330,000 per trip to fly pigs in more comfort on the 5,500-mile journey than humans often have in economy class. It is an extraordinary turn of events for a country of 1.3 billion once known
Simon Lester 03 Oct 2011 1 min read

US Tuna Panel report again: technical regulations and int'l standards

Dear all, I am intrigued by the US Tuna Panel’s approach to the question of whether the US used the AIDCP standards (which incidentally are resolutions passed by contracting parties to the Agreement on International Dolphin Conservation Program) as a basis for its dolphin-safe labelling provisions. At one point,
Melaku Desta 01 Oct 2011 2 min read

Why Aren't BITs Controversial?

From a State Department press release: The United States Senate approved the United States-Rwanda Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) on September 26 by unanimous consent. The Department of State applauds the Senate’s approval of the treaty and is pleased that the Senate’s longstanding tradition of bipartisan support for these
Simon Lester 29 Sep 2011 1 min read

Call for Papers for International Arbitration Conference (Reminder)

As noted previously, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration has issued a call for papers for its First Annual Winter Forum: THE INSTITUTE FOR TRANSNATIONAL ARBITRATION 1st Annual Winter Forum Stanford Court Renaissance San Francisco Hotel San Francisco, California February 2-3, 2012 CALL FOR PAPERS In collaboration with the Academic Council,
Simon Lester 29 Sep 2011 2 min read

The Other WTO Non-Discrimination Dispute: Philippines - Spirits

It's easy to get distracted with all of the interesting aspects of Clove Cigarettes and Tuna, but let's not forget that there is another non-discrimination case going on:  Philippines - Distilled Spirits.  This case deals with GATT Article III:2.  Here is the Philippines' notice
Simon Lester 27 Sep 2011 2 min read

From Tuna to Seals

This paragraph from the Tuna panel report seems like it could have some relevance for the Seal Products dispute: 7.442 As established above, the US dolphin-safe provisions aim at protecting dolphins.  That this particular piece of legislation does not afford protection to other animals or marine species should not
Simon Lester 27 Sep 2011 1 min read

Brazil's Exchange Rate Proposal

From Brazil's recent submission (Word doc) to the WTO on "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXCHANGE RATES AND INTERNATIONALTRADE" The bearing of wide currency fluctuations on the delicate balance of commitments and concessions resulting from negotiations at the WTO must be better understood and be properly dealt with.
Simon Lester 27 Sep 2011 1 min read

Technical Regulations vs. Standards in the Tuna Panel Report

One interesting part of the recent Tuna-Dolphin panel report is the different views of the panelists on whether the U.S. dolphin-safe labelling measure is a "technical regulation" under the TBT Agreement.   The panel majority found that the the measure is a "technical regulation"; the dissenter
Simon Lester 22 Sep 2011 5 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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