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Ron DeSantis on China Trade

Unfortunately, U.S. election season is upon us, and perhaps it would be useful if I documented the presidential candidates' statements on trade. That's mostly going to feature the Republican presidential hopefuls (and hopelesses, if that's a word!), but if Biden says anything new and
Simon Lester 22 Jun 2023 3 min read

Katherine Tai on Colonialism and Industrialization

You don't see much talk about "colonialism" in mainstream U.S. trade policy discussions, so I was excited to see this from U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai in her speech last week: Whether it is through working with us on the Critical Minerals Agreement, the
Simon Lester 21 Jun 2023 5 min read

Katherine Tai Speech on Resilience and Security

In remarks yesterday that a USTR press release referred to as a "major speech," U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai offered a detailed explanation and defense of the Biden administration's trade policy. There were a number of points I disagreed with, but instead of going line
Simon Lester 15 Jun 2023 3 min read

WTO DS Reform Proposals: Sunset Clause, ADR, and Streamlining the Panel Process

Geneva-based reporter Ravi Kanth has another piece about the ongoing WTO dispute settlement reform discussions, offering some detail on three specific proposals: -- review/sunset clause -- ADR -- streamlining the panel process On review and sunset, Kanth says the following: The UK introduced the proposal with the interests here pivoting around
Simon Lester 12 Jun 2023 2 min read

Would a U.S. Carbon Border Tax Pressure Other Countries To Reduce Emissions, or Just Lead To Retaliation?

A recent Washington Post article describes a new piece of U.S. legislation that could eventually lead to the imposition of a carbon border tax: In a rare example of a bipartisan climate policy, momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for a plan to tax imports from China and other
Simon Lester 11 Jun 2023 4 min read

USTR Goes Old School in USMCA Complaint on Mexican GE Corn Ban

Back in the 1990s, an important area of the trade policy debate was about how WTO rules might interfere with domestic environmental, food safety, and other public policy measures. There were cases such as Shrimp/Turtle, with a number of countries challenging a U.S. environmental measure; and EC - Hormones,
Simon Lester 08 Jun 2023 3 min read

Security of Steel Capacity – and the Persistence of trade security exceptionalism

In its 2022 WTO Trade Policy Review for the United States (US), China asked the US about its Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium. Specifically, China asked about the US steel capacity utilisation rate target of 80% in the Steel Report. China asked the US whether it would now
Mona Paulsen 06 Jun 2023 5 min read

The Supreme Court's Latest Ruling on the Dormant Commerce Clause: More Evidence that People Disagree on the Appropriate Degree of Economic Integration

It has been a while since I've written about a U.S. Supreme Court dormant Commerce Clause case, but the recent National Pork Producers Council v. Ross decision provides a great opportunity to revisit the issue. Steve Charnovitz commented on the decision here. (Here are some other takes:
Simon Lester 31 May 2023 15 min read

“Nice” Trade Lawmaking: How Congress Talks With The USTR

Readers will likely recall the exchange between Ambassador Tai and Rep. Greg Murphy during the annual trade policy agenda hearing a few weeks back in which Rep. Murphy said he thought Ambassador Tai was "too nice" to be effective as the USTR.  You remember it because it went
Kathleen Claussen 24 May 2023 1 min read

Opt Outs, NVNI, or Automatic Rebalancing for National Security Disputes

Veteran U.S. trade lawyers Warren Maruyama and Alan Wolff have a new paper out on "Saving the WTO from the national security exception". In their conclusion, they set out three solutions to the "impasse over justiciability of national security claims": (1) allowing Members to "
Simon Lester 23 May 2023 6 min read

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Featured

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

My Questions for Chad on China in the World Trading System

At the Peterson Institute event launching the "How To Win a Trade War" book, Chad said some things about trade relations with China that I found interesting.
26 May 2026 4 min read

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