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Tainted Milk and Trade Rules

I often hear trade critics say that WTO rules prevent countries from taking action to ensure food safety, but do they really?  In response to the terrible Chinese tainted milk scare, some countries are taking action against imports.  For example: the European Union will require testing of all imported products
Simon Lester 09 Oct 2008 1 min read

Barfield on Export Restrictions

Claude Barfield has some interesting and insightful things to say about export restrictions here.  Here's a brief excerpt where he talks about the prospects for WTO disputes in this area: While these policies should be countered through negotiations, I would argue (without getting into the dense WTO legalese)
Simon Lester 08 Oct 2008 1 min read

Another Trade Preferences for Fighting Drugs Case?

USTR announces: U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced that President Bush has directed her to publish in the Federal Register a notice of his proposed action to suspend Bolivia’s designation as a beneficiary country under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) and the Andean Trade Promotion and
Simon Lester 06 Oct 2008 2 min read

Bailout Bill Pork

Taxpayers for Common Sense provides details on the pork included in the bailout bill in order to secure its passage, including the following: Sec 502. Provisions related to film and television productionsIn an effort to keep film and television productions in the U.S, they would be eligible for a
Simon Lester 06 Oct 2008 1 min read

Obama's Latest Trade Comments

In a Q & A with the Detroit Free Press, Obama explains that he is for free trade, but he wants the U.S. to do a better job negotiating and he wants labor and environment standards included in trade agreements: Q: You’ve been accused of flip-flopping on the
Simon Lester 06 Oct 2008 3 min read

Slightly Off-Topic: The Economic Structure of International Law

It's not about international economic law per se, but it is about the economic structure of international law.  Does that count?  Decide for yourself at http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/TRAECS.html
Trachtman 05 Oct 2008 1 min read

Bananas, Healthy Kids and Trade

EU policies related to bananas have a long history in trade disputes.  Is this the next chapter: EU agriculture ministers gave broad political support on Tuesday to a scheme offering millions of schoolchildren free fresh fruit and vegetables from next year as a way to promote healthy eating and tackle
Simon Lester 04 Oct 2008 1 min read

Canadian Socialised Medicine and the NAFTA Boogeyman

It was with great interest that I heard about a new "case" against the Government of Canada under the NAFTA, concerning the provision of health care services.  Granted, I had learned of the matter through a very small handful of press articles; NGO warnings; and personal messages from
Todd Weiler 01 Oct 2008 5 min read

COOL is Here

Country of Original Labeling (COOL) for food is finally here: After years of wrangling, so-called “country of origin labeling” is expected to take effect at the end of the month, requiring most food retailers to disclose where many types of meat, produce and other food products come from. The new
Simon Lester 01 Oct 2008 1 min read

Byrd Amendment Update

Ben Muse reports on efforts to revive it:  http://benmuse.typepad.com/custom_house/2008/09/is-the-byrd-amendment-coming-back.html  The post has lots of good links.
Simon Lester 01 Oct 2008 1 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Could Congress Extend the USMCA for Another Term?

People have been assuming that the decision on whether to extend the USMCA for another term is up to President Trump, but based on the language of the USMCA related to the upcoming joint review, could Congress actually have the power to make this decision on its own?
04 May 2026 4 min read

Is There No Going Back on Trade? What Is the Path Forward? A Response to Lighthizer

Former U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has a new essay in Foreign Affairs, and I have some thoughts. I'm going to start with his brief big picture points on the direction of U.S. trade policy, and then go through a couple of the specific concepts he emphasizes.
27 Apr 2026 6 min read

The Section 301 Excess Capacity Investigation Needs Less Madness, More Method

Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s emergency tariffs under IEEPA  unconstitutional, the administration scrambled to rebuild its tariff wall. While the announcement of Section 122 tariffs immediately following the ruling will provide a temporary patch, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office quickly began to utilize another
24 Apr 2026 6 min read

War Tariffs

This is a co-authored post by Kathleen Claussen and Tim Meyer. Last week, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing new tariffs of 50 percent of the value of any product coming from any country that sells weapons or provides military aid to Iran. Some commentators questioned
14 Apr 2026 5 min read

USMCA Review and Extension Predictions

When the idea of an expiration clause was suggested during the NAFTA renegotiation, I was against it from the start, and Inu and I wrote a pretty critical piece about it at the time. A review is great, we said, let's definitely have reviews, and there are plenty of ways to do that.
08 Apr 2026 5 min read

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