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

Blog Comments

After upgrading the comments feature recently, I noticed that the following appears above the comments form: "Sign in or sign up for a free account."  Just to let everyone know, you do not have to sign in to post a comment and comments can still be done anonymously.
Simon Lester 05 Dec 2008 1 min read

An Optimistic View of the Democrats' Trade Policy

I have seen a lot of concern expressed about the bad things that might happen to trade policy now that the Democrats are in charge.  Here's a more positive view, from Robert McMahon of the Council on Foreign Relations, writing in Newsweek: Some analysts, however, see an opportunity
Simon Lester 04 Dec 2008 1 min read

Xavier Becerra May Be the New U.S. Trade Representative

From Politico: Democrats expect California Congressman Xavier Becerra to fill the slot of United States Trade Representative, JMart reports. Here's more from CQPolitics. ADDED: From Bloomberg. Also, James Pethokoukis of U.S. News and World Report says: More to come, but at this point it looks like Becerra
Simon Lester 02 Dec 2008 3 min read

Chinese Price Fixing

The Wall Street Journal reports on a civil antitrust complaint accusing four Chinese vitamin makers of price fixing.  China's Ministry of Commerce got involved in the case, putting forward a defense of sovereign immunity: In its filings and oral arguments, the ministry broadly asserted sovereign immunity in its
Simon Lester 02 Dec 2008 1 min read

Trade in Everything: Legal Services

From the WSJ law blog, it looks as though the impact of trade is becoming a little more personal for us lawyers: The WSJ reports today that outsourcing legal work to India continues to be a booming business. As the economy has soured, the business has only picked up, since
Simon Lester 01 Dec 2008 1 min read

The Auto Bailout: The Other Subsidies

Most of the recent auto bailout focus has been on subsidies requested by the Big Three.  But there is also the matter of the state tax incentives given to foreign automakers to set up factories there: The United Auto Workers Union boss [Ron Gettelfinger] also hit out at those US
Simon Lester 30 Nov 2008 1 min read

Two Canadian Views of North American Integration

Anne McLellan of the University of Alberta: ... the treaty needs a revamp, she says, and should be expanded. The transition period where the three countries were losing jobs to each other is long over, and trade between the U.S. and Canada reached over a trillion dollars last year. Other
Simon Lester 30 Nov 2008 1 min read

The Auto Bailout: What People Are Worried About

There are a lot of subsidies for the auto industry being proposed, and in response many concerns about these subsidies have been noted.  In terms of trade issues, most of these concerns are unlikely to turn into formal complaints.  Rather, as noted previously here, they are probably just being put
Simon Lester 29 Nov 2008 1 min read

WTO Scholars' Forum: WTO Dispute Compliance

Professor Mary Footer (University of Nottingham) ‘Compliance with WTO Dispute Settlement Decisions: Some Reflections on Recent Developments’ Wednesday 3 December 2008, 4-5.30pm, UCL Laws, Moot Court To register free of charge please contact Forum administrator, Ann Tucker, [email protected] Summary While it is understood that WTO
Simon Lester 29 Nov 2008 1 min read

European Respect for WTO Law

In the Wall Street Journal, Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner ask, "Does Europe Believe in International Law?"  Their answer:  "Europe's commitment to international law is largely rhetorical. Like the Bush administration, Europeans obey international law when it advances their interests and discard it when it
Simon Lester 25 Nov 2008 1 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

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

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

25 posts

Appellate Body

72 posts

CAFTA

5 posts

CETA

8 posts

Currency Disputes

57 posts

Development

23 posts

Digital Trade

55 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

8 posts

EU-UK Trade Negotiation

5 posts

Exceptions

19 posts

Exchange Rates

5 posts

Export Restrictions

13 posts

Food Aid

5 posts

Foreign Investment

21 posts

FTA Negotiations

12 posts

FTAs - General

21 posts

Gambling Dispute

52 posts

Global Governance

9 posts

Globalization

13 posts

Government Procurement

5 posts

Green Steel Deal

14 posts

IEEPA

8 posts

IEL in Domestic Courts

20 posts

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

5 posts

Industrial Policy

19 posts

Investor-State Arbitration

93 posts

Jamieson Greer

15 posts

Katherine Tai

66 posts

NAFTA

18 posts

NAFTA Chapter 11

15 posts

NAFTA Chapter 19

5 posts

National Security

37 posts

Non Appeal Pact

3 posts

Non-Discrimination Standards

59 posts

Non-Market Economies

5 posts

Non-Violation Nullification or Impairment

16 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

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

2 posts

Terms of Trade Manipulation

6 posts

Trade Agreements

18 posts

Trade and Competition

14 posts

Trade and Development

20 posts

Trade and Environment

117 posts

Trade and Health

20 posts

Trade and Human Rights

8 posts

Trade and Income Inequality

1 post

Trade and Intellectual Property

25 posts

Trade and Labor

23 posts

Trade and Peace

4 posts

Trade and Security

33 posts

Trade and the Stock Market

2 posts

Trade Balance

9 posts

Trade in Everything

65 posts

Trade in Services

21 posts

Trade Law and International Law

9 posts

Trade Preferences/GSP

23 posts

Trade Remedies

62 posts

Trans Pacific Partnership

8 posts

Trump Administration

47 posts

U.S. Trade Policy

29 posts

U.S. Trade Politics

58 posts

US-China Trade Relations

26 posts

USMCA

18 posts

USMCA Dispute Settlement

33 posts

USMCA Sunset/Review Clause

18 posts

USTR

15 posts

WTO - General

20 posts

WTO Accessions

8 posts

WTO Disputes

175 posts

WTO DS Reform

12 posts

WTO Jurisprudence

28 posts

WTO Negotiations

30 posts

Zeroing

29 posts
Powered by Ghost