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My Take on the Vaccine/TRIPS Waiver Issue: Buyout Pharma Now, Rebalance the IP System Later, and Meh on the Waiver

After almost two days of intense discussion on Twitter and elsewhere, here's where I am now on the issue of vaccine production and the TRIPS waiver. The most important point here is whether additional factories around the world could produce vaccines. In order to do so, they would
Simon Lester 07 May 2021 2 min read

SIEL Conversation on Indirect Expropriation in International Investment Law

From the SIEL: SIEL May ConversationThe Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) is pleased to invite you to its May Conversation entitled ‘Book Launch: Sondra Faccio, Indirect Expropriation in International Investment Law. Between State Regulatory Powers and Investor Protection (Editoriale Scientifica, 2020), with Sondra Faccio (University of Trento), Prof. Giuseppe
Simon Lester 07 May 2021 1 min read

What if the US can't create consensus around a WTO vaccine waiver? A review of the options

Angela Merkel's Kriegserklärung  against America in its effort to to build consensus for a WTO vaccine waiver will come as no shock to those familiar with Germany's punitive moralism  and gratuitous cruelty in the Greek debt crisis a few years back.   But the chancellor's
Rob Howse 06 May 2021 3 min read

TRIPping the light fantastic-fathoming the Biden Administration's support for a vaccine waiver at the WTO

"Come, and trip it as ye go, On the light fantastick toe"- John Milton, "Allegro" Yesterday's statement by USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai that the US will support efforts in the WTO for a vaccine waiver is a big deal.  "Massive", "
Rob Howse 06 May 2021 3 min read

Guest Post: European Commission puts forth legislative proposal to tackle “foreign subsidies”

This is a guest post by Victor Crochet of Van Bael & Bellis The European Commission puts forth its legislative proposal to tackle “foreign subsidies” in the European Union. The text of the proposal can be found here. There has been lots of discussions on this blog over the Commission’
Simon Lester 05 May 2021 3 min read

Book Launch of “The Protection of Intellectual Property Rights under International Investment Law”

Event Details Date & Time: * May 27, 2021 * 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Location * Virtual Event Contact Information: * Jennifer Karnakis * jkarnakis@suffolk.edu Registration: * Register now Event Description Please join us for a virtual webinar celebrating the launch of “The Protection of Intellectual Property Rights under International Investment
Simon Lester 05 May 2021 1 min read

Mini-Deals: A First Look at the World of Trade Executive Agreements

With the deadlines now having passed for moving the UK and Kenya agreements through the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) process, there has been some talk about pursuing instead more “skinny” or “mini”-deals especially given that the prospects of renewing TPA remain in doubt.  Even apart from TPA, additional
Kathleen Claussen 03 May 2021 4 min read

Talking Trade Policy on Clubhouse and Twitter

You may have heard about the "drop in audio" craze going on right now. The Clubhouse app was the first, and Twitter got in on the action with Spaces. The basic idea is that it's sort of like a call-in radio show, with a couple hosts
Simon Lester 03 May 2021 1 min read

Call for abstracts: PluriCourts Research Conference on Compliance Mechanisms

This is from PluriCourts: PluriCourts issues this call for abstracts on the topic of “International Courts versus Compliance Mechanisms: Comparative advantages of non-compliance mechanisms and complaint procedures.” In this project, we ask: Contributions will be published in an edited volume by Cambridge University Press (tbc) or a special edition of
Simon Lester 03 May 2021 1 min read

The WTO Appellate Body: Why The Biden Administration Should Allow Appointments to be Reopened

Yesterday, the journal Global Policy published an essay of mine on the case for rebooting the WTO Appellate Body.  In the article, I propose a range of options for deciding what kind of judges the WTO needs going forward, and addressing some of the more justified criticisms of prior judges,
Rob Howse 29 Apr 2021 4 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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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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