While the U.S. economy becomes increasingly interconnected with the fate of the global market, trade policy still struggles to captivate the American public’s attention. Popular support for free trade is waning, and the presidential candidates are polarized in their approach to trade policy. What are the candidates’ positions on trade? What trade-related issues should the next president and Congress anticipate? How will U.S. trade policy influence the economy’s ability to adapt to increasing complexity in the multilateral trading system?

Bruce Stokes, an international economics columnist for National Journal, will present an overview of these issues. Discussants include trade analyst Sallie James of the Cato Institute; Ira S. Shapiro, general counsel to the U.S. Trade Representative in the Clinton administration; Thea Lee, a trade specialist at the AFL-CIO; and AEI resident scholar Philip I. Levy, who has advised the McCain campaign on trade issues. AEI resident scholar Claude Barfield will moderate.