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Obama on Trade: Imports Bad, Exports Good

From a Q & A session after some recent remarks by Obama: Q    Yes, okay, it has to do with international patent rights.  With all this free trade and trade barriers falling, it's really hard for an individual like me with a global-scope patent to file all
Simon Lester 26 Jan 2010 1 min read

Trade in Everything: Offshoring Prisons

From AFP:  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested California could ease its crowded prison system by sending thousands of undocumented inmates to specially built jails in Mexico. Speaking to reporters at the Sacramento Press Club, Schwarzenegger said California could ease its strained finances by a billion dollars if 20,000 illegal immigrants
Simon Lester 26 Jan 2010 1 min read

"Why is Censorship a Trade Issue?"

From the Comptuer & Communications Industry Association: WHY IS CENSORSHIP A TRADE ISSUE? The United States is an information economy, and U.S. companies are leading vendors of information products and services. In this context, information discrimination fundamentally undermines market access for electronic commerce, and combating it should top our
Simon Lester 26 Jan 2010 1 min read

Do Free Traders Support Dumping?

From an Australian union leader: "The bottom line is that even free-trade zealots do not support dumping because it is an uncompetitive practice and not a true reflection of market forces."Hmm, I'm not so sure about that one.  I don't think economist
Simon Lester 26 Jan 2010 1 min read

Trade in Everything: Haggis

From the Daily Telegraph: US authorities are considering relaxing an import ban on the Scottish delicacy, brought about by the BSE crisis in 1989, it was reported. The meat dish contains offal, including sheep lung, which was covered by the American restriction on some imported animal products. ... A spokeswoman for
Simon Lester 26 Jan 2010 1 min read

Pleading "No Contest" in the Zeroing Disputes

It's hard to know what to make of a WTO panel decision like today's U.S. - AD Measures on Carrier Bags report.  In a nutshell, Thailand alleged that the U.S. used "zeroing" in the anti-dumping proceeding at issue, in violation of the
Simon Lester 22 Jan 2010 1 min read

Some Questions About "High Standards" in Trade Agreements

I see a lot of talk these days by the Obama administration about "high standard" trade agreements (e.g., here).  They also refer to "21st century" trade agreements, presumably to convey a similar idea. So what do they mean by a "high standard" agreement?
Simon Lester 21 Jan 2010 4 min read

Chander on International Trade and Internet Freedom

Anupam Chander has posted International Trade and Internet Freedom on SSRN.  From the abstract: Can trade liberalization serve the cause of political liberalization in authoritarian states? In this short essay, I suggest that trade law might bolster political freedoms by liberalizing Internet trade. Trade law puts pressure on state repression
Simon Lester 21 Jan 2010 1 min read

Phil Levy on Defining Protectionism

Phil Levy of AEI tries to define modern protectionism: To better recognize protectionism in its modern guises, we offer three broad categories of protectionist measures: Intentional protectionism encompasses measures that are explicitly intended to favor domestic industry over imports. Incidental protectionism occurs when measures can be readily justified on other
Simon Lester 21 Jan 2010 1 min read

Market Economy Status and Arms Trade in Exchange for Chinese Currency Revaluation?

From China Daily: Spain will propose that the European Union (EU) consider lifting an arms embargo on China and grant full market economy status to the country, Madrid's top envoy to Beijing has said. Elaborating on Spain's tasks during the six months it holds the EU
Simon Lester 21 Jan 2010 1 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Does The EU Need Its Own Section 301 To Counter China's Distortions?

Recently, economists Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser suggested that the EU may need its own version of Section 301 in order to "confront China’s systemic distortions beyond piecemeal trade defence."
17 Jun 2026 7 min read

The Section 301 Forced Labor Import Ban Report

On June 2, 2026, USTR released its report on 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.
04 Jun 2026 11 min read

What To Expect from the USMCA Review?

The USMCA review is almost upon us. How exactly things will proceed is a bit unclear, as we've never done this sort of thing before, but July 1 is the six year anniversary of the USMCA's entry into force.
03 Jun 2026 15 min read

China in the World Trading System: A Response to Chad, and Some Comments on Froman-Greer

I'm going to use this post to (1) respond to Chad and (2) comment on an exchange between current U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer and former U.S. Trade Rep. Mike Froman at a recent CFR event.
01 Jun 2026 7 min read

My Response To Simon on China in the World Trading System

Here are two quick reactions to the super important question of what explains why countries did not use WTO dispute settlement to push China to change.
28 May 2026 2 min read

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