Abstract
This chapter reviews trade law argumentation—advocacy that invokes substantive international trade law principles—in settings outside of the World Trade Organization dispute settlement mechanism. Even so limited, the expanse of the possible areas where one might find such argumentation remains broad. The chapter focuses on two novel data sets of arguments growing out of recent events: first, state reactions to US imposition of special tariffs on steel and aluminum and on products from China; second, comments by US legislators in congressional debates. Each set engages a very different set of speakers across a range of experiences. And each yields different lessons about the purposes and effects of trade law argumentation outside the courtroom.