Questions for Japan About Its Trade/Investment Deals with the Trump Administration

One of the many useful things that happens at the WTO is the Trade Policy Reviews carried out for each WTO Member, and Japan's latest review includes some questions/answers on the framework trade agreement with the Trump administration.

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Where To Focus with the Issue of Trade Imbalances: Exchange Rates vs. Domestic Economic Policies

The Economist has a piece by a group of economists on trade imbalances, explaining that there is too much focus on the undervalued yuan. In my view, lots of people are getting things on wrong on trade imbalances, and it's nice to see these folks getting things right.

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Can Brazil's WTO Complaint on the Section 301 Tariffs Avoid Being Undermined by an "Appeal into the Void"?

Amidst the flurry of recent tariff news was a USTR notice of action earlier this month in the Section 301 investigation of Brazil’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Digital Trade and Electronic Payment Services; Unfair, Preferential Tariffs; Anti-Corruption Enforcement; Intellectual Property Protection; Ethanol Market Access; and

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Immigration Penalties for Foreign Government Officials Engaging in "Economic Discrimination"

Recently introduced legislation from Congressman Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) seeks to penalize "foreign officials who weaponize the government to discriminate against American companies" by amending the Immigration and Nationality Act "to make foreign government officials who engage in economic discrimination against U.S. persons inadmissible to, and

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Guest Post: Preliminary Thoughts on the European Commission Proposal for the Cybersecurity Act 2.0

This is a guest post by Peter Van den Bossche [1] Chair Professor of International Economic Law, Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Law; former Member and Chair of the WTO Appellate Body; Professor Emeritus of International Economic Law, World Trade Institute, University of Bern; and external legal advisor,

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The Meaning of "Discrimination" in Section 338's Predecessor (Section 317 of the Tariff Act of 1922)

In my post on the Trump administration's invocation of Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 last week to impose tariffs on certain Canadian imports, I offered some quick thoughts on how broadly "discrimination" in that provision of the statute might be interpreted and applied.

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Will There Be Further Adjustments to the Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs If Forced Labor Laws Improve?

On Thursday, USTR announced its final tariff rates in the Section 301 investigation on forced labor imports. There are a wide range of ideas for how to challenge these tariffs in court, with some ideas broader than others. One broad approach would be to argue that these tariffs are just

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The New Agreement on Reciprocal Trade between the U.S. and Jordan

This is a guest post by Bashar Malkawi, Legal Counsel at The Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department On July 21, 2026, the U.S and Jordan concluded and signed a new Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. Jordan has now officiated preferential access to the US market. The U.S has

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Why Section 338 Does Not Work in a GATT/WTO World: Lessons from Trade Law History

On July 21, 2026, President Trump exercised his authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (hereinafter Section 338) to impose the maximum amount of additional tariffs (fifty per cent) on Canadian cars, alcohol, and dairy, owing to his determination of Canada’s discriminatory treatment of US

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A Brief Section 338 Reaction

Yesterday's announcement of Section 338 tariffs to be imposed on Canada was a bit of a surprise, although no tariff announcement can be too much of a shock these days.

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EU WTO Reform Proposal Seeks To Extend Accession-Based State Enterprise Rules To All Members

In a new WTO reform paper entitled "Further Reflections on Disciplines, Subsidies and Industrial policy," the EU argues for stronger WTO disciplines on the behavior of state enterprises.

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Thinking About the Trump Administration’s "Doctrine of Economic Statecraft"

Mohamed Aly El-Erian, a professor at the Wharton School who was chair of President Obama's Global Development Council, had a recent NY Times op-ed entitled "America Was Being Played. The Bessent Doctrine Says Those Days Are Over."

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Stephen Miran on Optimal Tariffs

In a recent WSJ op-ed (which Julia Qin mentioned in the comments here), former Trump administration Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran makes the case for an "optimal tariff in the region of 10% to 40%."

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How Are U.S. Goods Exports to Canada and Mexico Doing under Trump’s Trade Policies?

Previous posts on this blog have looked at trends in U.S. exports under the Trump administration’s trade policies, focusing on either specific categories of products or on the top U.S. trade partners. This post combines these two elements.

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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."

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Remembering David Kleimann

The trade community mourns the loss of David Kleimann, a formidable trade expert and friend. David was most recently at S-Curve Economics, but also held posts at ODI, Bruegel, and Georgetown Law, among others. His research sat at the intersection of international trade law, EU external economic governance, and

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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.

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Call for Panels, Papers and Poster: SIEL 2027

This is from SIEL:Reimagining International Economic Law: Reasons, Challenges, and Future Directions 7-9 July 2027, Christchurch (New Zealand) The Tenth Biennial Global Conference of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) will take place in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 7 till 9 July 2027, hosted by the University

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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.

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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.

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Lighthizer on Whether Tariffs are Going Anywhere after 2028

This is an exchange in a recent conversation between former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Gerald Butts of the Eurasia Group: Butts: And just to be clear about this, because I think it's a really important point, and this is one point we definitely agree

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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.

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Recent Calls in the EU To Address Chinese Currency Undervaluation

An important element of the piece by Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser that I talked about in my last post was their argument that the EU should address Chinese currency undervaluation.

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Does The EU Need Its Own Section 301 To Counter China's Distortions?

Recently, economists Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser suggested that the EU may need its own version of Section 301 in order to "confront China’s systemic distortions beyond piecemeal trade defence." Here's the case they made:A European 301  Safeguards are meant to be

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Call for Submissions - Trade, Law and Development

This is from the Trade, Law and Development journal:The Journal is now inviting unpublished manuscripts for publication of its 18th Special Issue (Vol. 18 No.1) titled "Reimagining Global Trade: Industrial Policy and Strategic Autonomy in a Changing Global Order". Submissions are welcome in

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A Sudden Surge of Safeguard Investigations

I don't follow domestic safeguards investigation that closely, but I had been noticing some coming out of places that don't do them very often (e.g., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand), so I wondered if there has been an overall increase in these measures.

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Call for Papers: Brooklyn International Business Law Scholars Roundtable

This is from Irene Ten Cate, the co-director of the Block Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School:📢 Call for Papers! The Block Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School invites scholars to submit proposals for the 2026

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Tracking Exports under Trump: Country Comparisons

In a previous post, I noted that one of the reasons some traditionally pro-trade members of Congress may be supporting Trump's trade policies is because they are hoping these aggressive policies will pry open foreign markets and lead to increased U.S. exports of agricultural and other products.

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The IMF vs. Greer on Budget Deficits and Trade Deficits

In a recent piece published on the IMF website, U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer argues that "[t]rade theory must catch up with tariffs, industrial policy, and the costs of globalization." There's a lot to discuss in there, but I'm going to focus

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Is State Capitalism Coming to AI?

U.S. government ownership of AI companies would trigger an industrial policy competition, and would be a bad idea in and of itself.

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