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Manufacturing and Trade Balances

Recently, I tweeted this about the trade balance: Ro Khanna's Twitter bio says "Trade surplus again." I wish people would think more deeply about the trade balance. Here are some good pieces to read: https://cato.org/blog/trade-deficit-disorder… https://cato.org/testimony/americas-misunderstood-trade-deficit… https://cato.
Simon Lester 12 Feb 2023 5 min read

New Paper on "The Extension of Legal Precedent": How Much Reliance on Precedent Is Too Much?

Precedent in trade law is a hot topic these days. Jeffrey Kucik, Lauren Peritz, and Sergio Puig have a new article out called "Legalization and Compliance: How Judicial Activity Undercuts the Global Trade Regime." This is the abstract: The crisis facing the World Trade Organization illustrates the trade-off
Simon Lester 08 Feb 2023 3 min read

U.S. Views on MPIA Arbitrators' Consideration of AD Agreement Legal Standard of Review

At last Friday's DSB meeting, the U.S. had some positive things to say about how the MPIA arbitrators in the Colombia - Frozen Fries dispute handled the issue of the AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii) legal standard of review: - The United States intervenes to comment
Simon Lester 01 Feb 2023 3 min read

The Curious Case of US Self-Judging, Part 2

Last Friday, the United States appealed the US-Origin Marking Requirement (DS597) and the US-Steel and Aluminium Products (DS544,552, 556, 564) reports. With the appeal came news that the US would lead an effort to draft an authoritative interpretation of GATT Article XXI. This U.S. administration will want to
Mona Paulsen 30 Jan 2023 9 min read

National Security Disputes, Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment, and Authoritative Interpretations

At today's DSB meeting, in the context of the consideration of the U.S. - Steel/Aluminum and U.S. Origin Marking panel reports, the U.S. offered the following explanation of why it was appealing the reports into the void, as well as some broader steps it
Simon Lester 27 Jan 2023 5 min read

Expanding US Free Trade Agreements in Pursuit of Clean Energy and Trade Justice

Expanding US Free Trade Agreements in Pursuit of Clean Energy and Trade Justice Steve Charnovitz 26 January 2023 In 2022, the United States (US) Congress passed yet another statute (US Public Law 117–169) violating the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). One provision of that statute has received
Charnovitz 26 Jan 2023 3 min read

The Risks and Economic Consequences of Inefficiency

Here is something U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai said at a World Economic Forum event last week: So I think that whether it's in the world of goods trade, or services trade, or digital trade, part of what we are struggling with right now at this inflection
Simon Lester 22 Jan 2023 3 min read

Call for Abstracts: European Yearbook of International Economic Law (EYIEL)

This is from the editors of the European Yearbook of International Economic Law: The editors of the European Yearbook of International Economic Law (EYIEL) welcome abstracts from scholars and practitioners at all stages of their career for the EYIEL 2023. This year’s focus section will be on European and
Inu Manak 18 Jan 2023 1 min read

SIEL Call for Papers, Posters and Panels: Deadline Extended: 1 February 2023

This is from the SIEL: Please note that we have extended the deadline for the submission of paper, panel and poster proposals for SIEL 2023 until 1 February 2023. You can find the revised Call for Papers, Panels and Posters here.
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2023 1 min read

USMCA Panel Report Circulated in Auto ROO Dispute

The panel report in the USMCA Chapter 31 auto rules of origin dispute was circulated today (our WorldTradeLaw.net Chapter 31 panel reports page is here). Based on a quick skim, the panel's findings seemed reasonable to me, but I may come back to this after having looked
Simon Lester 11 Jan 2023 1 min read

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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

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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

Economic Security in Trade Agreements: My Response to Geoff Gertz

Thanks to Geoff for laying out his vision of why economic security should be in trade agreements and how to bring it in. It won't surprise anyone to hear I have some additional comments and questions in response!
04 Dec 2025 10 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part II

This is a guest post from Geoffrey Gertz of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), responding to my post on Economic and National Security Provisions in U.S. Trade Agreements An earlier post made the case for why the United States should bring economic security commitments into trade
01 Dec 2025 3 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part I

Thanks to Simon for kickstarting a debate on the prospect of bringing economic security provisions into trade agreements, and for allowing me to respond here.
26 Nov 2025 4 min read

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