I had the opportunity to speak to Simon Lester of the Cato Institute. Mr. Lester (@SNLester) is an expert in international trade policy and international trade law. Don’t believe me? Well, he is the associate director of the Herbert A. Stiefel center for trade policy studies at the Cato Institute. He is a lawyer and has practiced law with a focus on international trade law. He has been a legal affairs officer at the appellate body secretariat of the world trade organization. In 2001 Mr. Lester founded the international trade law website worldtradelaw.net. He’s published several law journal articles regarding international trade. So I’d say he’s an expert on international trade policy and international trade law!
A few of the specific topics we discuss:
- What is fair trade? We use the phrase a lot, but we should be clear about what we mean.
- Are trade deficits good? Bad? Indifferent? Why?
- Is China actually abusive in its trade conduct?
- Are tariffs the best way to respond to China’s behavior?
- What other strategies and tactics does the US have at its disposal?
- Are there national security implications to being heavily reliant on a foreign power for our supply chain?
Check out the links below to listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts!
Here are some of the articles I read to get ready for this interview: