For the United States, the critical role that the TPP could play in Japanese politics and economic reform raises the stakes.

After Congress passes FTAs with Korea, Columbia and Panama, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) will become the single most important US trade initiative, serving as a building block for a larger Free Trade Area for the Asia Pacific Agreement.

This event will discuss the economic implications of free trade agreements in Asia.

Jagdish Bhagwati, one of America’s leading economic and political analysts of international trade policy, has just completed a new book, Termites in the Trading System: How Preferential Agreements Undermine Free Trade (Oxford University Press/Council on Foreign Relations, June 2008). The theme and conclusions of Bhagwati’s study will be discussed at...

President Obama indicated his seriousness about exports when he committed to double them by 2015, but he has given conflicting signals about his commitment to trade liberalization. While the administration has praised the passage of the FTAs with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea, the president waited far too long to submit the legislation to Congress.

As part of a bid for renewed authority to streamline government, the White House wants to merge six agencies into one bureaucracy focused on trade and competitiveness. The plan has sparked substantial criticism from the U.S. business and trade policy communities. An expert panel will weigh in on the controversy and evaluate President Obama's reorganization proposal.