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What Chinese Behavior is Outside the Scope of WTO Rules?

At a House Ways and Means Committee trade hearing last week, Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) said this: Many countries, especially China, ... engage in predatory, unfair, and anti-free market behavior outside the scope of the WTO rules. While the rules could of course be tightened, it's important
Simon Lester 14 Feb 2024 1 min read

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
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”
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

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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

Competing Views of Sovereignty: The Haves vs. The Have Nots in AI (and Steel)

It's interesting to watch how political leaders craft narratives around economic competition that reflect their own country's strengths and weaknesses.
29 Jun 2026 4 min read

A law of many meanings: Exchange Actions under the GATT and IMF

Earlier this week, Simon Lester posted about the EU’s concerns with the undervaluation of the Chinese currency. He situated the recent demands for trade restrictions against a longstanding debate about the function of GATT Article XV:4.
25 Jun 2026 8 min read

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