Associate Director @CatoTrade. Formerly @WTO. Founded https://t.co/sOJsSEMWdY. Taught @MelbLawSchool, @UMichLaw, @AUWCL. Assistant to the Regional Manager.
Sep 7, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Here's a short thread on my new venture with @HZhu2013 called China Trade Monitor, chinatrademonitor.com. You can follow us on Twitter here: @CHNTradeMonitor 1/
The basic idea is to do in-depth news/analysis on Chinese trade policy issues. That includes what's going on in China, and how others are reacting to China. 2/
Feb 25, 2021 • 81 tweets • 5 min read
Good first question from Wyden: How to work with allies on China issues?
Tai acknowledges that this will be difficult.
Feb 8, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
5 recent trade policy recommendations from Mark Wu (just announced as a USTR Senior Advisor):
1) "Seek to resolve Trans-Atlantic differences over key WTO-related issues, including most notably, reform of WTO dispute settlement and digital trade"
cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/web.sas.upenn.…2) "Focus intensely on policies to counter / offset China’s industrial policies and ensuring supply chain resiliency for vital strategic industries"
Jan 20, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has spent the last few weeks trying to construct a narrative about the Trump/Lighthizer legacy on trade. I respond to some of his arguments here:
Here's a thread about it. 1/
Lighthizer says Biden didn't run against Trump's trade policy, but that's clearly wrong. Here's Biden: "Trump doesn't get the basics. He thinks his tariffs are being paid by China."; "Trump is attacking the very partners we need with us to deal with China." 2/
In theory, Canada/Mexico could bring a complaint to a USMCA panel alleging that Sec 230 repeal violates USMCA. But I think they are unlikely to do so. And if they did bring a complaint and won, US is unlikely to comply with the ruling.
@TradeDiversion@normative If by some chance there was a successful complaint and no compliance by US, Can/Mex could get authorization to retaliate (e.g.) with tariffs.
Dec 21, 2020 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
I have a new piece with @hzhu2013 in the @GJIA_Online entitled "US Trade Policy in the Biden Administration:
The Challenge of China's Rise": gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/12/21/us-… Here's a thread about it. 1/
For a long time, China didn’t seem to be much of a trade threat. Japan and Germany were the big worries in the 1980s and China wasn't really on the radar. Even for much of the 1990s, China wasn't given as much emphasis as various other countries. 2/
Dec 9, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Some brief thoughts on the choice of Katherine Tai as the next U.S. Trade Rep.: ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2020/12/kather… 1/
A little while ago, I said we needed someone who is "knowledgeable, pragmatic, non-ideological, familiar with both the key Congressional players and foreign government officials, and not closely tied to special interests" for this position. 2/
Dec 8, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
There's lots of talk about "restoring American leadership on trade," but what does that mean exactly? Here's a short thread on what the Biden administration could do (based on this op-ed: realclearpolicy.com/articles/2020/…) 1/
First, reengage with other governments in order to unblock the Appellate Body appointments process and get WTO dispute settlement working again. 2/
Sep 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
I have a new @CatoTrade paper out today on the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), the temporary replacement for the WTO Appellate Body: cato.org/sites/cato.org… Here's a short thread. 1/
The Appellate Body has been the subject of a lot of criticism recently (not just from the US), but I think people are underestimating its value and forgetting the problems with certain WTO panel reasoning. 2/
Aug 21, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
This new WSJ op-ed (wsj.com/articles/how-t…) by Lighthizer repeats a lot of his previous talking points, but let me offer a couple thoughts. 1/
First, he correctly points out the protectionist abuses by other countries, but he ignores the corresponding US ones (excessive IP protection, abuse of trade remedies, farm subsidies, etc.). 2/
Aug 11, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Kamala Harris during the debates:
"I am not a protectionist Democrat. Look, we need to sell our stuff. And that means we need to sell it to people overseas. That means we need trade policies that allow that to happen."
ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2019/09/trade-…
More Harris: "Because of this so called trade policy that this president has that has been nothing more than the Trump trade tax that has resulted in American families spending as much as $1.4 billion more on everything from shampoo to washing machines." ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2019/08/trade-…
Aug 11, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
The Democratic convention starts next week. Just in time for it, former Democratic Congressman Jim Bacchus has a @CatoTrade paper arguing that Democrats should support trade more than they have in recent years: cato.org/publications/p… Here's a thread about his paper. 1/
Trump has mishandled trade policy in a number of ways, and acted in a unilateral and protectionist manner. Partly as a result, trade liberalization is now more popular than ever. The Democrats should take advantage of that and make some big changes, as follows. 2/
May 5, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The good news about this Hawley op-ed on abolishing the WTO (nytimes.com/2020/05/05/opi…) is that he doesn't understand the WTO or the pre-WTO trading system at all, and his arguments fall apart very quickly based on the actual facts.
There is so much wrong in the op-ed and I'm not sure it's worth the effort to go through point by point, but one quick thing. Hawley says: "the W.T.O. ... did next to nothing to stop Chinese theft of American intellectual property and products."
Sep 12, 2019 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Jim Bacchus and I have a short @CatoTrade paper out today on the WTO Appellate Body and the role of precedent: cato.org/sites/cato.org… Here's a thread. /1
Relying on past cases as precedent is a core feature of domestic legal systems. The Appellate Body was aware from the outset, however, of the sensitivity of the issue in international law. /2
Jul 9, 2019 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
.@rodrikdani dismisses "out of hand" the focus of "many commentators … on Trump’s appeals to racism," because racism has always been present and thus cannot explain Trump's rise. project-syndicate.org/commentary/eco… 1/
Here's the full paragraph of Rodrik's that concerns me: 2/
Sep 11, 2018 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The NAFTA Chapter 19 issue is often described something like this:
"One of the sticking points that is getting the most attention so far is Canada's demand to keep an independent dispute resolution system within the trade pact."
"The Canadians are demanding that the dispute resolution mechanism Chapter 19, or a version of it, be kept in NAFTA. The Americans want the system scrapped in favour of using U.S. courts to resolve trade disputes."
