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Ukraine Invokes National Security Exceptions at WTO: Complete Embargo and WTO Agreements No Longer Applied to Russia

Ukraine has sent a letter to the Chairman of the WTO's General Council, in which it says it will "impose a complete economic embargo and no longer apply the WTO agreements in its relations with the Russian Federation": On 24 February 2022 the Russian Federation committed
Simon Lester 03 Mar 2022 1 min read

Two Views on What To Do about Russia at the WTO

Jim Bacchus, writing in the WSJ, is pushing for expulsion: No specific WTO provision relates to expelling a member. Expulsion would be possible under Article X of the WTO agreement, however, if two-thirds of the WTO’s current 164 members vote to alter the agreement. If Russia were to refuse
Simon Lester 03 Mar 2022 1 min read

Senator Wyden's “No Most Favored Nation Trading With Russia Act”

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) has introduced the No Most Favored Nation Trading with Russia Act. According to the press release, the bill "revokes Russia’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status and provides the president the power to raise tariffs on a host of Russian products.
Simon Lester 02 Mar 2022 1 min read

The Portman/Cardin Russia (and Others) NTR Withdrawal Trade Bill

Following up on Senator Portman's speech discussed here, Senators Portman and Cardin have introduced bipartisan legislation "to revoke free trade privileges from Russia and other countries that invade sovereign nations." They explain that "[t]he No Trading with Invaders Act would automatically revoke Permanent Normal
Simon Lester 02 Mar 2022 4 min read

Senator Rob Portman on Russia and the WTO

This is from a speech by Senator (and former U.S. Trade Rep.) Rob Portman: I believe we should also target Russia's trade sector by revoking our Permanent Normal Trade Relationship, or PNTR, with Russia. In other words, the United States should no longer give Russia unrestricted access
Simon Lester 01 Mar 2022 2 min read

Guest Post: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Global Trade: It’s More Than Just Oil and Natural Gas

This is a guest post from Chaturbhuj (a law student at National Law University, Jodhpur, India) and Hridyanand Ojha (a law student at Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, India) Introduction The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered Europe’s largest land conflict since 1945. This conflict presents a severe
Simon Lester 01 Mar 2022 7 min read

Guest Post: Make Russia a Trade Pariah: Deny it Normal Trade Relations

This is a guest post from GW professor Susan Ariel Aaronson Policymakers around the world are searching for ways to punish Russian leaders for their aggression in Ukraine.  Generally, they have relied on economic and financial sanctions, but sanctions are an imperfect tool.  While sanctions can be effective at punishing
Simon Lester 26 Feb 2022 3 min read

Congressmen Blumenauer and Doggett Introduce Legislation To "End 'Favored Nation' Trade Relations with Russia, Bar Russia From WTO"

U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Lloyd Doggett are introducing legislation to "end Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with the Russian Federation and to initiate a process to formally deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization (WTO), following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine." The legislation is here.
Simon Lester 26 Feb 2022 2 min read

Call for Papers from PEPA/SIEL

This is from PEPA/SIEL: We are pleased to announce that the 2022 PEPA/SIEL Conference will be held at Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham in hybrid form on 8-10 June 2022. SIEL’s Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network (PEPA/SIEL) is interested in fostering collaboration and mentoring
Simon Lester 24 Feb 2022 1 min read

Non-Discrimination under Section 301: Canadian Digital Services Taxes

This is from a USTR submission to the Canadian government on a proposed Canadian digital services tax: Thank you to the Government of Canada for this opportunity to comment. The United States has serious concerns about the Canadian Government’s plan to enact a Digital Services Tax (DST). The Canadian
Simon Lester 22 Feb 2022 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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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

Economic Security in Trade Agreements: My Response to Geoff Gertz

Thanks to Geoff for laying out his vision of why economic security should be in trade agreements and how to bring it in. It won't surprise anyone to hear I have some additional comments and questions in response!
04 Dec 2025 10 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part II

This is a guest post from Geoffrey Gertz of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), responding to my post on Economic and National Security Provisions in U.S. Trade Agreements An earlier post made the case for why the United States should bring economic security commitments into trade
01 Dec 2025 3 min read

Guest Post: The Case for Bringing Economic Security Priorities into U.S. Trade Agreements, Part I

Thanks to Simon for kickstarting a debate on the prospect of bringing economic security provisions into trade agreements, and for allowing me to respond here.
26 Nov 2025 4 min read

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