International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 8)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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A New Central Organizing Principle for U.S. Trade

In the US Trade Regime class I teach with Matt Nicely, our unit on the regime’s import side has traditionally begun with a review of how the United States classifies trading partners … the “ordinary,” “preferred” and “rogue” categories associated with columns 1a, 1b and 2 (respectively) of the Harmonized

Three Explanations for the Foreign Investment Pledges

In recent months, President Trump and the Trump administration have been touting a $20 trillion or so figure that they say foreign companies/governments have pledged to invest in the U.S. I've had trouble figuring out what to make of all this, but I have three theories

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!

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

Tiptoeing into the Polycene:[1] Launch of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade

On November 7, during the Belém Climate Summit, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil launched the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT). The IFCCT is a recognition of the need to integrate trade policy and climate policy. It is a “space for dialog” intended to “bring

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.

Symposium on Tariffs and Trade Wars

Law professor Csongor István Nagy sends the following: Jointly organized by the ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, the University of Galway’s LLM in International and Comparative Business Law, and the Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies, this hybrid symposium on December 2, 2025 offers insight into

Exemplars vs. Precedents in WTO Law

As most of this blog's readers are aware, there has been controversy over the "permissible interpretation" language in the legal standard of review in AD Agreement Article 17.6(ii).

Should Congress Codify Trump's Trade Deals?

For the purposes of domestic law, the trade deals negotiated by the Trump administration have been concluded as executive agreements, and there is no indication that the administration wants Congress to approve them via statute. Some members of Congress have raised this possibility though.

Impact of the October 2025 US-China Detente On United States-Mexico Trade

On October 29, 2025, President Trump and Chinese Communist Party Chairman Li concluded a limited detente in their ongoing trade war. (U.S-China Trade Agreement) This trade deal, largely a return to the status quo in February-April 2025 is scheduled to continue for a year. The compromise was essential to