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The Future of U.S. Big Tech and Social Media (and a Quick Thought on Manufacturing)

As the saying goes, it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future, but in a piece I wrote for the Baker Institute, I argue that the social media landscape is going to become smaller and more global, with U.S. big tech control declining. Is this just
Simon Lester 30 Oct 2025 3 min read

Tracking Foreign Investments in the U.S. Pursuant to Trump's Trade Deals

According to President Trump and his administration, one of the most important elements of the trade deals they are negotiating right now is the commitments being made by foreign governments and companies to invest in the U.S. The aggregate figures mentioned in this regard have been as high as
Simon Lester 29 Oct 2025 2 min read

Some Questions about the Cambodia and Malaysia Trade Deals

The White House released the texts of trade agreements with Cambodia and Malaysia today. I have lots of questions about this.
Simon Lester 26 Oct 2025 3 min read

Why Not Use the Phase One Deal's Enforcement Mechanism?

On Friday, USTR initiated a Section 301 investigation of "China’s implementation of the Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the People’s Republic of China ('Phase One Agreement')."
Simon Lester 26 Oct 2025 3 min read

International law aspects of the U.S.-Australia critical mineral and rare earth deal

Upon reading the US-AUS framework concerning the financing of rare earth mining. While there is very little to go on, I wanted to share some thoughts that connect current assessments with what we know about international investment law and existing institutional development. The Framework commits $1 billion in financing projects
Mona Paulsen 24 Oct 2025 4 min read

Grossman and Sykes on Reciprocity in U.S. Trade Relations

In a new paper entitled "Commandeering the Customs: An Economic and Legal Perspective on the President’s 'Emergency' Imposition of 'Reciprocal Tariffs'," professors Gene Grossman and Alan Sykes push back on the idea that there is a lack of reciprocity in U.S. trade
Simon Lester 24 Oct 2025 6 min read

How Should the U.S. Respond To China's Non-Market Practices?

In an interview last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talked about the Trump administration's response to China's non-market practices. Part of this response, as he presents it, has been for the U.S. to pursue a specific version of state-led industrial policy as a defensive measure.
Simon Lester 20 Oct 2025 5 min read

Checking In On the Trump Administration's Drug Price Control Plans

Following up on two previous posts I did on this issue, let's see how the Trump administration's plan to push drug prices in the U.S. down while pushing drug prices in other countries up is going. At the end of September, Trump announced "the
Simon Lester 16 Oct 2025 4 min read

New Model WTO Program at McGill

This is from some enterprising students at McGill University who are setting up a Model WTO program: My name is Sumayya Kheireddine, and together with my co-president Randa Omar, we are two law students at McGill University. Inspired by our experience at the Model World Trade Organization simulation in Switzerland,
Simon Lester 16 Oct 2025 1 min read

Guest Post: Too Big To Fail: The EU Steel Industry, Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 and the EU’s Free Trade Agreements

This is a guest post by trade lawyer Victor Crochet and law professor Weihuan Zhou Steel has long been a contentious topic in international trade, in part because of the numerous jobs it creates and its relevance to downstream industries including those related to national defense. In the European Union
Simon Lester 13 Oct 2025 8 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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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

Is Foreign Antitrust Enforcement "Discriminatory" and "Anti-American"?

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing in December on "Anti-American Antitrust: How Foreign Governments Target U.S. Businesses." There was a lot of talk at the hearing about how foreign regulations and regulators "discriminate" against American companies.
05 Jan 2026 5 min read

Pennsylvania Court Finds Mexican Government Guilty of "Discrimination" Due To Its Subsidies

I'm always interested in how courts apply the concept of "discrimination" in the context of international trade, so I've been eagerly awaiting a Pennsylvania court decision in a case against Mexico.
12 Dec 2025 8 min read

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