Thank you, Madam Chair.
Members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to appear today.
My name is Geneviève Dufour, and I am a professor of international law in the law faculty at Université de Sherbrooke. I specialize in international trade law.
I am delighted to be here today to discuss the U.S.'s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. I commend the committee for studying the issue, since it doesn't seem to have garnered much attention in recent months despite the legislation's significant repercussions.
Having followed the committee's proceedings over the past few days, I felt it relevant to focus my remarks on the lawfulness or legality of the act vis-à-vis international trade rules. My understanding was that many of you wanted clarification on that.
Let's say it right away: The Inflation Reduction Act is clearly illegal under international trade rules. First, it violates the national treatment principle, which aims to avoid protectionist measures. It also violates the principle of most favoured nation treatments, which requires states not to discriminate among trading partners.
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