The Georgetown Journal of International Law Blog

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Supreme Court to Weigh the Limits of Executive Trade Powers in IEEPA Tariff Cases

October 30, 2025 by Editor

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, testing whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes President Trump’s trade deficit tariffs. Georgetown Law’s Appellate Litigation Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of leading economists and trade law experts arguing that Congress reserved such authority to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—not IEEPA—reflecting longstanding limits on executive economic powers.

From Tax Filter to Fiscal Dialogue: Rethinking the Referral Mechanism in Investor-State Dispute Settlement ("ISDS")

October 3, 2025 by Iacopo Andrea Accolla

The intersection of taxation and investment protection has emerged as a contested dimension in investment arbitration. Tax carve-outs are a common way in which modern International Investment Agreements regulate the treatment of taxation, and some of them retain a “referral” or “filter” mechanism that grants tax authorities a gatekeeping role before arbitration may proceed. In practice, however, this mechanism has often proven ineffective. This commentary argues that it is time to reconsider the referral mechanism and explores mediation as a more balanced, transparent, and effective alternative.