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Obama on Economics and Trade

Barack Obama is following-up his recent primary victories with some new thoughts on economics, to be offered today at a speech at a GM factory.  Here is an excerpt of what he will say about trade: It’s also time to look to the future and figure out how to
Simon Lester 13 Feb 2008 1 min read

Does Free Trade Favor Rich Countries?

Tyler Cowen of George Mason interviews Ha-Joon Chang of the University of Cambridge regarding his critical book on free trade: http://chronicle.com/media/audio/v54/i23/chang_cowen/
Simon Lester 12 Feb 2008 1 min read

Beyond "Trade Policy," Towards "Integration Policy"

In the Financial Post, some well known trade experts argue for deeper Canada - U.S. integration: That a big idea on Canada-U.S. trade is needed there is little doubt. ... "We reached the high point in the year 2000 in volume in terms of trucks and human traffic,
Simon Lester 11 Feb 2008 2 min read

Trade in Everything: Swiss Army Knives

The title of the post is a bit mis-leading, as it appears there are some things that are not to be traded: Swiss soldiers will continue to pack knives made in Switzerland, after the defence ministry decided not to have them produced them abroad. The NZZ am Sonntag and Sonntag
Simon Lester 11 Feb 2008 1 min read

Job Losses from Trade vs. Non-Trade

We've talked before on this blog about whether job losses from trade deserve greater compensation than job losses from other things.  Here is a real world example of the latter that I came across: Polaroid Corp. is dropping the technology it pioneered long before digital photography rendered instant
Simon Lester 10 Feb 2008 1 min read

Anti-Dumping Reform

From a post about anti-dumping over at VoxEU: Even leaving aside legal details, our recent work and other studies suggest some obvious starting points for any reform of the EU antidumping system. Antidumping instruments that are simply another form of protection leave too much discretion in the hands of the
Simon Lester 10 Feb 2008 1 min read

Romney Goes Out on a Populist Note

In pulling out of the Presidential race, Mitt Romney said the following in his withdrawal speech: The attack on our culture is not our sole challenge. We face economic competition unlike anything we have ever known before. China and Asia are emerging from centuries of poverty. Their people are plentiful,
Simon Lester 08 Feb 2008 1 min read

Another Argument Against Ethanol Subsidies

Putting the trade issues aside, there is an environmental argument against corn ethanol subsidies: The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes, researchers concluded Thursday. The study challenges the rush to
Simon Lester 07 Feb 2008 1 min read

"the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be"

From Reuters: In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise. "We had decided that money is money and we'll
Simon Lester 07 Feb 2008 1 min read

Junk Mail, the Environment, and Market Access

Over at the Conglomerate, Gordon Smith complains about all the junk mail he gets and says: "... I am willing to vote for the presidential candidate who proclaims, 'I look forward to nailing the going out of business sign on the front door of the United States Postal Service.
Simon Lester 07 Feb 2008 1 min read

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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

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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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