American Trade Law in a Post-WTO Appellate Body World

For decades, the WTO Appellate Body regularly ruled that American laws violated the various WTO treaties. This forced Congress to rewrite WTO non-compliant statutes and altered U.S. policy on issues related to trade, the environment, and taxes - amongst others. In December 2019, however, a U.S. campaign to block Appellate Body judge nominations paralyzed the entire WTO Appellate Body system. As a result, the WTO cannot render final decisions in disputes between its member-states, and in recent years new laws like the Inflation Reduction Act's Electric Vehicle tax credit scheme openly flout WTO treaty rules.

How did the Appellate Body constrain U.S. laws pre-2019? Why did the U.S. choose to block nominations to the Appellate Body and what are the prospects that the Appellate Body returns? And if the Appellate Body does not return, how will this impact U.S. trade and trade-related laws? Join us for a panel where two leading experts on trade law and policy discussed these issues.

Featuring:

Jamieson Greer, Partner, King & Spalding

David Ross, Partner, WilmerHale

Moderator: Trevor R. Jones, JD Candidate, Harvard Law School

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.