ISDS Case Map
NAFTA | USMCA
Few countries have bet as heavily on free trade as Mexico and Canada. Now that President Trump says 25% tariffs will hit both countries, their economies are facing a stress test that rivals the global financial crisis and the pandemic.
A quarter century ago, I was tear-gassed protesting free trade. Now that Trump’s tariffs may signal the beginning of the end of globalization, do I get to say, “I told you so?”
The dispute panel’s ruling against Mexico in a challenge brought by the US, and Mexico’s eventual agreement to withdraw the provisions on corn, points to the limitations of existing trade rules, which are heavily influenced by industrial agriculture and biotechnology interests.
Time will tell how Trump’s digital trade agenda will evolve.
Progressive new trade policies and agreements driven by global environmental objectives, as well as decades-old attempts through the United Nations General Assembly to reshape the global trade system and decolonize it, offer some direction.
Why should we feel constrained by a free trade agreement? If we could make a compelling economic and policy case to renationalize a key industry, we should just do it and we should stop worrying about whether it’s allowed in the free trade agreement or not.
Genetically modified corn dispute from the US and Canada exposes lack of protection for Indigenous rights in recent trade deals.
The USTR's review of the USMCA should reveal that its digital trade chapter, built on the Obama-era neoliberal TPP rules, seeks to consolidate tech power, monopolize markets, undermine workers’ rights, and disregard AI transparency and accountability.
The Mexican government officially repealed its ban on genetically modified corn imports from the United States, following an arbitration ruling under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Economics and trade law experts say the US could, under CUSMA, cite national security as a rationale for its actions and plow ahead with tariffs knowing Canada can't prevent that from happening.
