International Economic Law and Policy Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • WorldTradeLaw.net
Sign in Subscribe

"China’s Currency Isn’t Our Problem"

That's from Mark Wu, writing in the NY Times.  But just to be clear, he is not saying that China's currency policies are not a problem, but rather that they are everyone's problem, not just a problem for the U.S.: China’s currency
Simon Lester 19 Jan 2011 1 min read

WTO Dispute Submissions: USTR Posting of Other Government's Submissions

I don't know if this is new, but it's the first time I have noticed it.  USTR seems to be posting the non-confidential version of other governments' submissions in disputes against the U.S.  The executive summary of the Philippines' first written submission in
Simon Lester 18 Jan 2011 1 min read

"there is not a system of precedent within the WTO dispute settlement system and panels are not bound by Appellate Body reasoning"

That's from the panel in U.S. - Zeroing (Korea) (DS402), circulated today.  Here's the full context (without footnotes): 7.29 Korea relies upon the Appellate Body report in US – Softwood Lumber V  to argue that the United States acted inconsistently with the first sentence of
Simon Lester 18 Jan 2011 1 min read

The U.S. Record in NAFTA Chapter 11 Cases: Still Undefeated

Over the week-end, the State Department announced the following: On January 12, 2011, a three-member NAFTA arbitration tribunal rejected a claim against the United States filed by Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd., a Canadian corporation, and Jerry Montour, Kenneth Hill and Arthur Montour Jr., members of Canadian First Nations,
Simon Lester 17 Jan 2011 1 min read

Location Subsidies for Solar Panel Production

From the NY Times: Aided by at least $43 million in assistance from the government of Massachusetts and an innovative solar energy technology, Evergreen Solar emerged in the last three years as the third-largest maker of solar panels in the United States. But now the company is closing its main
Simon Lester 17 Jan 2011 2 min read

Institutional Balance at the WTO

The idea of an "institutional balance" between the legislative, executive and judicial organs of the WTO came up in the India - Quantitative Restrictions and Turkey - Textiles cases.  On this issue, see Frieder Roessler's piece entitled "The Institutional Balance between the Judicial and the
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2011 4 min read

Dani Rodrik Wants to Restrict Policy Space

Well, for the most part he doesn't.  He says: When international cooperation does “succeed,” it spawns rules that are either toothless or reflect the preferences of only the more powerful states. The Basle rules on capital requirements and the World Trade Organization’s rules on subsidies, intellectual property,
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2011 1 min read

Tuna-Dolphin: The NAFTA-WTO Dispute Settlement Conflict

I've mentioned the NAFTA-WTO dispute settlement conflict aspect of the U.S. - Tuna II (DS381) case before (see here and here).  Unfortunately, I'm in a little over my head on that issue.  I prefer to focus on the substantive aspects (DSC subscribers only) of the
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2011 1 min read

Trade in Everything: Replicas of the Royal Engagement Rings

From Reuters: Britain may be on the other side of the world, but Chinese manufacturers are cashing in on the British royal wedding as they churn out tens of thousands of replica royal engagement rings. Last November, Prince William and his beaming fiancee Kate Middleton showed off the blue sapphire
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2011 2 min read

Current Account Imbalances: Part 2 (Martin Feldstein)

Here's post #2 on the current account imbalances issue.  Martin Feldstein thinks these imbalances will, for the most part, take care of themselves, without any grand international plan to fix them.  He leads off his paper this way: The high level of current account imbalances has been a
Simon Lester 11 Jan 2011 8 min read

About

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Expert commentary on the law, politics and economics of international trade and investment

Sign up for email notifications

[email protected]
Subscribe

Featured

Jamieson Greer on the 30 Year Aberration in U.S. Trade Policy

When he was in Davos last week for the World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer talked a bit about U.S. trade policy history and described a recent period during which, in his view, U.S. trade policy shifted away from tariffs/protectionism and towards free trade.
29 Jan 2026 6 min read

Is this the end of MFN as we know it? The EU submission on WTO reform and the meaning of development

With the release of the EU submission on WTO reform, it has become clear that the MFN principle’s central role within the WTO architecture is under challenge. As a keystone, it risks the entire bridge falling. Even if the foundations are retained but deemed outdated or unusable, and a
23 Jan 2026 3 min read

Can "Geopolitical" Tariffs Be Dealt With through Trade Deals?

Last Friday, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer was asked about Trump's initial suggestion of tariffs related to the goal of taking over Greenland
20 Jan 2026 4 min read

Is Foreign Antitrust Enforcement "Discriminatory" and "Anti-American"?

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing in December on "Anti-American Antitrust: How Foreign Governments Target U.S. Businesses." There was a lot of talk at the hearing about how foreign regulations and regulators "discriminate" against American companies.
05 Jan 2026 5 min read

Pennsylvania Court Finds Mexican Government Guilty of "Discrimination" Due To Its Subsidies

I'm always interested in how courts apply the concept of "discrimination" in the context of international trade, so I've been eagerly awaiting a Pennsylvania court decision in a case against Mexico.
12 Dec 2025 8 min read

Topics

2008 Presidential Election

25 posts

2012 Republican Primary

6 posts

2020 Democratic Primary

22 posts

2020 Presidential Campaign

6 posts

2024 Presidential Campaign

9 posts

2024 Republican Primary

9 posts

Announcements

25 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

55 posts

Domestic Trade Powers

10 posts

Dormant Commerce Clause

3 posts

DSU 25 Interim Appeals

43 posts

DSU Article 11

13 posts

Economic Integration

8 posts

Economic Statecraft

8 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

5 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

12 posts

FTAs - General

21 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

8 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

15 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

18 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

37 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

59 posts

Non-Market Economies

5 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

16 posts

Precedent

25 posts

Public Views of Trade

9 posts

Rare Earths

1 post

Robert Lighthizer

17 posts

Russia Trade Sanctions

17 posts

Sanctions

15 posts

Sovereignty

9 posts

Speech

1 post

SPS/TBT

5 posts

Standards of Review

7 posts

State Enterprises

7 posts

Sub-National Trade Issues

5 posts

Subsidies

83 posts

Tariffs

2 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

16 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

20 posts

Trade and Environment

117 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

8 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

25 posts

Trade and Labor

23 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

32 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

9 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

9 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

62 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

45 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

29 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

58 posts

US-China Trade Relations

26 posts

USMCA

18 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

18 posts

USTR

15 posts

WTO - General

20 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

175 posts

WTO DS Reform

12 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts

Zeroing

29 posts
Powered by Ghost