The U.S. Trade Agenda through 2016: From TPA to TPP, TTIP, and Beyond

After a long fight on Capitol Hill that featured hyperbole, demagoguery, and strange political alliances, President Obama signed the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) into law on June 29, giving him fast-track trade authority and paving the way to finish negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The end game may now be in sight for the TPP, which would reduce tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods and services between 12 countries on four continents. Whether TPP will be completed and successfully implemented remains uncertain, but the recent passage of the TPA ensures the process will unfold in the midst of primary election season and that trade policy will be a key 2016 campaign issue.

What is the likelihood of TPP’s passage during the final 18 months of the Obama presidency? How will TPP expand our economic liberties? What are its downsides? And what is the status of the transatlantic trade negotiations? Dan Ikenson, director of the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, will join us to comment, take your questions, and discuss his efforts to promote free trade.