A month ago, the George W. Bush administration made a tentative deal with Congressional Democrats on a new template which could allow passage of pending trade accords and potentially clear the way for new ones. According to the proposal, countries seeking free-trade agreements with the United States would have to satisfy broader labor and environmental mandates. This follows the Bush administration’s earlier expanded demands on the domestic regimes of potential free-trade agreement partners in the areas of capital controls and pharmaceutical pricing. Is the template for trade promotion authority flawed? Are trade deals increasingly extending too far into the domestic affairs of sovereign nations? Is it time for the United States to pull back? Following a keynote address by John Veroneau, deputy U.S. trade representative, a panel of trade scholars will discuss these and other issues.
