International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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FTAs - General

21 posts

Lessons from the First U.S. Win in a Trade and Labor Dispute: The USMCA RRM Atento Decision

For the first time, an arbitral panel has sided with the United States in a trade and labor dispute. On August 21, the United States and Mexico announced the publication of the second panel decision under the USMCA/T-MEC/CUSMA Facility-Specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM).

What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Trade Deal

There is widespread speculation about trade agreements that may be coming in the next 10 days (or soon after), including their form and what they might contain. What should we expect? The most reliable rumors are that some agreements have been drafted and are likely to be announced by the

Situating Labor in a Trade Agreement: Questions from the First RRM Panel

This is the second of two posts that take a look at the submissions and recount some of what was said at the hearing in the first USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) dispute between the United States and Mexico. If you’re new to the discussion, check out the

The U.S.-Peru FTA Goes to Missouri

It’s not every day that a trade agreement finds its way into U.S. courts – especially not as a basis to dismiss a tort claim in Missouri. Tomorrow, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear Reid v. Doe Run Resources Corp. In a rather

The U.S. “Worker-Centered Trade Policy” is helping some workers in Mexico but not in America

This Labor Day post seeks to shed light on the Biden administration’s “worker-centered” trade policy. It argues that the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) misses a critical opportunity to strengthen workers’ rights in America. The agreement’s provisions exclude protections for the most vulnerable workers in U.S. trade

The New U.S.-Taiwan Trade Agreement and Its Approval

This post is by Kathleen Claussen & Timothy Meyer. It is cross-posted on Lawfare. On June 1, the United States and Taiwan signed a new trade deal. The agreement, which spans eight chapters and 75 pages in the English version, creates obligations for both parties to enhance trade facilitation, adopt

What is a Free Trade Agreement, Anyway?

This is the second of two posts on trade agreements in the news over the last ten days. During the holidays, Treasury and the IRS confirmed what many had already been discussing since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in November: that they might take an expansive definition of

Trade Agreement Transparency for the New Year

This is post one of two on trade agreements in the news over the last ten days. Many will know that the president signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act in the days before Christmas. Like several recent big legislative packages, this one contains some important trade-relevant provisions. I

Fit for Whose Purpose?: How Panelists Interpret Labor Rights in Trade, and What That Tells Us about the Trade/Labor Relationship

While many of us were celebrating the holidays with family, an important law review article dropped silently and inconspicuously into the fray. That article, Fit for Purpose: The Extent and Enforcement of International Trade Agreement Labor Obligations After Guatemala – Labor Obligations Decision, was written by Professor Kevin Banks, who served

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