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

The End of the A Contrario Argument?

This post concerns the so-called a contrario argument under the SCM Agreement Illustrative List.  The issue is a bit technical, so some background may be in order. To give a brief overview, in the Brazil - Aircraft dispute, Brazil made the following argument in relation to the consideration of its
Simon Lester 19 Mar 2008 3 min read

RTAs Conference in St. Louis

In early April, Saint Louis University School of Law will be holding the following conference on Regional Trade Agreements: Saint Louis University Public Law Review and The Center for International and Comparative Law presents: THE CHANGING TIDE OF TRADE: The Social, Political and Environmental Implications of Regional Trade Agreements Friday,
Simon Lester 19 Mar 2008 1 min read

Zoellick on Trade Politics

My sense is that Bob Zoellick is one of the most well-respected trade people around, so I thought his comments here were worth noting: Whoever wins the U.S. presidency would probably back a global trade pact if a deal can be reached this year, despite Democratic candidates' scepticism
Simon Lester 18 Mar 2008 1 min read

Mattoo and Subramanian on WTO Currency Rules

Joel recently mentioned a new paper by Aaditya Mattoo and Arvind Subramanian entitled "Currency Undervaluation and Sovereign Wealth Funds: A New Role for the World Trade Organization."  I had been planning for a while to do a short post on it, but was distracted by other things.  What
Simon Lester 17 Mar 2008 4 min read

More on Video Game Subsidies

As mentioned a while back, UK video game makers are complaining about Canadian government subsidies designed to encourage producers to locate there: Following Eidos' decision to move its production services from London to Montreal, UK trade association Tiga has warned the government that it must create a fair competitive
Simon Lester 17 Mar 2008 1 min read

Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) Membership and Conference Registrations Now Open

<o:p></o:p> Registration for the Inaugural Conference of the Society of International Economic Law is now open at www.sielnet.org. The conference will be held on 15-17th July at the Centre on Trade and Economic Integration at the Graduate Institute of International Studies
Colin Picker 17 Mar 2008 1 min read

Another Gambling Settlement

As reported by a poker web site: According to the Tico Time in Costa Rica, the United States and Costa Rica have come to a settlement agreement in regards to the United States pulling out of its World Trade Organization agreement involving online gambling. As compensation for not allowing online
Simon Lester 16 Mar 2008 1 min read

trade/environment/federalism

I've been away from the blog for some time, so I hope I haven't missed somebody else writing about this. It was interesting to note the US Environmental Protection Agency's decision not to allow the California waiver from the Clean Air Act, allowing CA
joannescott 14 Mar 2008 2 min read

Some Questions about Labor/Environment Provisions in Trade Agreements

This Presidential campaign has made it very clear that there are a number of people (mostly Democrats, I would guess), including the two remaining Democratic Presidential candidates, whose support for trade agreements is conditional on having enforceable labor and environmental rules as part of these agreements.  This view raises a
Simon Lester 13 Mar 2008 1 min read

Missouri’s Tax Break for American-Made Hybrid Cars

It is true that the United States has come late to environmentalism (and still has a ways to go). Nonetheless, even in the “heartland” we are starting to see the beginning of a Green Revolution. But, with these positive moves there is always the danger of populist protectionism rearing its
Colin Picker 12 Mar 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 5 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

6 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

48 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