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Ukraine and Russia at the WTO

Thanks to Bryce Baschuk of Bloomberg, who posted the documents on Twitter, we have a letter written by Ukraine to the Chair of the WTO General Council regarding cutting of trade with Russia, and a letter Russia wrote in response. It's the trade response of other countries to
Simon Lester 08 Mar 2022 3 min read

Fixing the WTO Dispute Settlement Crisis Requires U.S. Reform Proposals

Here's an excerpt from a short piece I wrote for IISD Trade and Sustainability Review about the WTO dispute settlement crisis: ... the key here, regardless of whether it is the Appellate Body specifically or dispute settlement more generally [that the U.S. is concerned with], is to make
Simon Lester 06 Mar 2022 1 min read

Senators Brown and Cassidy Introduce No Most Favored Nation Trading with Russia Act

U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) have introduced the No Most Favored Nation Trading with Russia Act "to revoke Russia’s most-favored-nation status." The full text is here (and here). It is mostly identical to the Blumenauer/Doggett bill discussed
Simon Lester 03 Mar 2022 1 min read

Canada Revokes MFN Status of Russia and Belarus

Legislating and regulating seems much easier in parliamentary systems. As the U.S. starts considering the competing Russia MFN withdrawal bills I've been discussing the past couple of days, Canada just went ahead and withdrew the MFN status of Russia and Belarus. This is what Deputy Prime Minister
Simon Lester 03 Mar 2022 2 min read

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
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
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

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Governments Make Their Case Against Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs

Last month, USTR made a determination in its Section 301 investigation into "Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure To Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced With Forced Labor."
10 Jul 2026 5 min read

How Should the EU Get Tough with China? Unilateral Action vs. WTO Complaints

I've seen several recent calls for the EU to get tougher in its economic relations with China, along with arguments that it has been too slow to act against the Chinese economic threat.
06 Jul 2026 4 min read

Trump Administration Decides Not To Extend USMCA for Another Term: What Does That Mean Exactly?

Today, as part of the first joint review of the USMCA, the three governments held a virtual meeting.
01 Jul 2026 4 min read

Competing Views of Sovereignty: The Haves vs. The Have Nots in AI (and Steel)

It's interesting to watch how political leaders craft narratives around economic competition that reflect their own country's strengths and weaknesses.
29 Jun 2026 4 min read

A law of many meanings: Exchange Actions under the GATT and IMF

Earlier this week, Simon Lester posted about the EU’s concerns with the undervaluation of the Chinese currency. He situated the recent demands for trade restrictions against a longstanding debate about the function of GATT Article XV:4.
25 Jun 2026 8 min read

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