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Tax Breaks for Buying New Cars "Assembled in the United States"

Is this a WTO violation: Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced that they plan to introduce an amendment to the Senate stimulus package tonight that would help American automakers sell their cars ,while also taking older, less fuel-efficient cars off the road. The Sell Fuel Efficient Cars
Simon Lester 06 Feb 2009 1 min read

More on Separation of Trade Powers

A little while back, I mentioned a proposal to change the balance of power on trade issues between Congress and the President.  Now, under a bill proposed by Sen. Olympia Snowe, the courts could play a greater role as well: The Trade CLAIM Act of 2009, which is cosponsored by
Simon Lester 06 Feb 2009 1 min read

Global Trade Watch on the Buy America Controversy

Global Trade Watch says: The hysteria coming from European Union (EU) and Canadian officials about the Buy America and Buy American domestic preferences in the U.S. stimulus bill is particularly odd, given that both the EU and Canada have wisely excluded considerably broader swaths of their procurement activity from
Simon Lester 06 Feb 2009 2 min read

Buy America in the White House Press Briefing

Not that this really clarifies anything (press briefings rarely do), but I thought it worth noting anyway: Q Robert, in some of the interviews last night, the President seemed to back off -- pardon me -- earlier commitments to "Buy American" provisions. Is he in favor of "
Simon Lester 05 Feb 2009 1 min read

Jeffrey Frankel on Trade and Climate Change

From the conclusions of a paper entitled "Environmental Effects of International Trade" by Jeffrey Frankel of the Kennedy School: Concluding recommendations regarding trade penalties in climate legislation The central message of this section of the report is that border measures to address leakage need not necessarily violate the
Simon Lester 05 Feb 2009 2 min read

Top 50 Foreign Policy Blogs

"Masters in Criminal Justice" offers the Top 50 Foreign Policy Blogs, and they were kind of enough to include this blog.
Simon Lester 05 Feb 2009 1 min read

"Protectionist Power Balance"

From an FT article: Fredrik Erixon, of the European Centre for International Political Economy, a free-market think-tank in Brussels, says: “WTO rules are effective where you have one country behaving badly. Where there is a protectionist power balance between all the big countries, they aren’t of much use.” I
Simon Lester 05 Feb 2009 1 min read

The End of the Zeroing Debate?

Well, the end of the debate in the WTO's judicial organs anyway (the political battle will surely continue).  From a concurring opinion in today's AB decision in U.S. - Continued Zeroing (DS350): 304. One Member of the Division wishes to make the following statement in
Simon Lester 04 Feb 2009 4 min read

"I think we need to make sure that any provisions that are in there are not going to trigger a trade war"

That's Barack Obama, talking about the Buy America controversy.  He also said: "I think it would be a mistake though, at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we're just looking after ourselves and not concerned
Simon Lester 03 Feb 2009 1 min read

CEPMLP, Dundee: Chair in International Law

From the CEPMLP: Dear Friends, We are now formally launching the search to seek a Professor of International Law to replace the late Professor Thomas Walde. Those of you who read The Economist or the UK’s Times Higher Education will have seen the notices. We are deliberately keeping the
Simon Lester 03 Feb 2009 1 min read

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Comparing the Enforcement Provisions in the New U.S. Trade Deals

Building on the comparison of trade agreement provisions in my last post, let's take a look at the "enforcement" provisions of the six agreements for which the legal texts have been published.
11 Feb 2026 3 min read

Comparing the Economic and National Security Provisions in the New U.S. Trade Deals

By my count, we now have the legal texts of five Trump administration trade agreements. Will there be enforcement actions under these agreements?
09 Feb 2026 4 min read

Jamieson Greer on the 30 Year Aberration in U.S. Trade Policy

When he was in Davos last week for the World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer talked a bit about U.S. trade policy history and described a recent period during which, in his view, U.S. trade policy shifted away from tariffs/protectionism and towards free trade.
29 Jan 2026 6 min read

Is this the end of MFN as we know it? The EU submission on WTO reform and the meaning of development

With the release of the EU submission on WTO reform, it has become clear that the MFN principle’s central role within the WTO architecture is under challenge. As a keystone, it risks the entire bridge falling. Even if the foundations are retained but deemed outdated or unusable, and a
23 Jan 2026 3 min read

Can "Geopolitical" Tariffs Be Dealt With through Trade Deals?

Last Friday, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer was asked about Trump's initial suggestion of tariffs related to the goal of taking over Greenland
20 Jan 2026 4 min read

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