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Why Haven't the Tariffs Had More Impact on the Economy?

Dan Drezner recently noted the following in relation to why the Trump tariffs haven't had a more negative impact on the U.S. economy: What about the overall effect of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. economy? As to that question, a separate Ana Swanson story provides
Simon Lester 27 Jan 2026 2 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 Even if the foundations are retained but deemed outdated or unusable, and a
Mona Paulsen 23 Jan 2026 3 min read

The EU on Policy Space

In the EU submission on WTO Reform that I mentioned yesterday, there was this suggestion on "policy space": In the context of overall strengthening of rules, there should be openness to examine targeted adjustments for policy space. A balance needs to be found between the effectiveness of the
Simon Lester 23 Jan 2026 3 min read

Asking China To Liberalize More at the WTO

Back in 2018, I wrote a piece with my colleague Huan Zhu arguing that China had become much wealthier since it joined the WTO, and therefore should take on greater liberalization commitments: With greater wealth comes greater responsibility. Even if it continues to maintain its “developing” status, as China’s
Simon Lester 22 Jan 2026 4 min read

Guest Post: President Trump Cannot Legally Impose Tariffs Using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974

If the Supreme Court strikes down nonreciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Trump Administration reportedly plans to re-impose some of the tariffs by citing authorities in other laws.
Simon Lester 21 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
Simon Lester 20 Jan 2026 4 min read

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development

This is from the editors of the Trade, Law and Development journal: The Board of Editors of TL&D is pleased to invite original, unpublished manuscripts for publication in the General Issue of the Journal (Vol. XVII, No. 2) in the form of ‘Articles’, ‘Notes’, ‘Comments’ and ‘Book Reviews’
Simon Lester 18 Jan 2026 1 min read

Katherine Tai on WTO Dispute Settlement Reform

Back in November, former U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai spoke on a panel at Harvard (I just stumbled on the video recently). Towards the end, she responded as follows to a question about the Appellate Body appointments crisis (1:08:32 of the video): On the Appellate Body, ... if
Simon Lester 16 Jan 2026 4 min read

Essays in Honour of Valerie Hughes: Appellate Review, WTO Secretariat Handling FTA Disputes, and Much More

Nicolas Lamp recently put together a book honoring the great Valerie Hughes: "Reckoning and Renewal: The World Trade Organization and Its Dispute Settlement System at 30, Essays in Honour of Valerie Hughes."
Simon Lester 13 Jan 2026 3 min read

Some Interesting Provisions in the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement DS Chapter

We appear to be moving closer to a completed EU-Mercosur trade agreement, with the European Council announcing last week that it had "adopted two decisions authorising the signature of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and of the Interim Trade Agreement (iTA) between the EU and Mercosur." It also
Simon Lester 12 Jan 2026 3 min read

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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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