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

Katherine Tai on Chinese Non-Market Practices and WTO Dispute Settlement Reform

At a CSIS event today with U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai and WTO DG Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, entitled "Why the Developing World and All of Us Need Trade and the WTO," Tai spoke about a number of issues related to the WTO. I'm going to
Simon Lester 22 Sep 2023 9 min read

Would U.S. Dirty Steel Tariffs Be WTO-"Kosher"?

At the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics event today, economics correspondent Stephanie Flanders asked U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai about possible unilateral U.S. tariffs on dirty steel: I think the issue has been for the EU, and I think Vice President Dombrovskis has made it
Simon Lester 22 Sep 2023 3 min read

Defending Globalization

Cato has a new project on "Defending Globalization," with a number of contributions so far and more coming. Here's the description: Globalization faces renewed attention—and criticism. Like any market phenomenon, the free movement of people, things, money, and ideas across natural or political borders is
Simon Lester 13 Sep 2023 2 min read

How To Design a Subsidy Rule Carveout for Carbon Reduction Measures

Jennifer Hillman and Inu Manak have a new paper out called "Rethinking International Rules on Subsidies." In a nutshell, they argue that all the new subsidies being thrown around are likely to create difficulties in international economic relations, and some revised rules might help with that. One key
Simon Lester 10 Sep 2023 2 min read

The IPEF Supply Chain Agreement: Commitments, Institutions, Labor, Monitoring, Security, and Consultations

I haven't been following the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) negotiations as closely as some other people have, but I see that the text of the IPEF's Supply Chain Agreement was released yesterday. I don't have any hot takes on all this, but
Simon Lester 08 Sep 2023 6 min read

Post by Joel Trachtman: Remaking Trade for Sustainable Development

Joel was having trouble posting, so despite my name as the author of the post, this is actually from him: Some readers of this blog are old enough to remember when I resisted arguments to apply international environmental law in WTO dispute settlement.  My position then was based on a
Simon Lester 07 Sep 2023 2 min read

The First CPTPP Panel Report

The first CPTPP panel report, in the Canada - Dairy TRQs case, was just circulated. A case on similar issues has already been litigated under the USMCA, and a new USMCA case is currently being litigated. At this point, I have just two small things to note about the panel
Simon Lester 06 Sep 2023 1 min read

What if the Clinton Administration Hadn't Agreed to China's WTO Accession?

In recent years, I've frequently heard the argument that the Clinton administration made a mistake by allowing China to join the WTO. The specific actions here are the Clinton administration's completion of a bilateral deal with China in 1999 (which paved the way for other governments
Simon Lester 05 Sep 2023 2 min read

The U.S. “Worker-Centered Trade Policy” is helping some workers in Mexico but not in America

This Labor Day post seeks to shed light on the Biden administration’s “worker-centered” trade policy.  It argues that the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) misses a critical opportunity to strengthen workers’ rights in America.  The agreement’s provisions exclude protections for the most vulnerable workers in U.S. trade
Desiree LeClercq 03 Sep 2023 8 min read

Trump's Latest Tariff Talk

Former president Trump had the following exchange with his former economic adviser Larry Kudlow the other day: Kudlow: Let me ask you, what's your thinking here? Would you want tariffs on foreign goods coming into the US, take those revenues and cut taxes on American goods and American
Simon Lester 24 Aug 2023 3 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

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

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

27 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

58 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

10 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

6 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

13 posts

FTAs - General

22 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

9 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

17 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

19 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

38 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

60 posts

Non-Market Economies

6 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

19 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

Section 301

2 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

3 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

21 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

21 posts

Trade and Environment

117 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

9 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

26 posts

Trade and Labor

25 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

35 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

11 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

10 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

63 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

53 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

32 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

60 posts

US-China Trade Relations

26 posts

USMCA

19 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

19 posts

USTR

16 posts

WTO - General

25 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

175 posts

WTO DS Reform

13 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts
Powered by Ghost