Last week, I mentioned a Cato event on the TPP, on Sep 20 (register here: http://www.cato.org/events/trans-pacific-partnership-race-finish-or-long-slog-ahead). Well, we also have an event on Oct 2 called "The WTO and the Uncertain Future of Multilateralism." It features former WTO DG Michael Moore; former WTO AB Member Jennifer Hillman; and Craig VanGrasstek, who has just written a book called The History and Future of the World Trade Organization. Some details on the event:
The World Trade Organization has been a pillar of the global trading system since its inception in 1995, serving an especially important role in the adjudication of trade disputes and, ultimately, helping to subdue protectionism. But the failure of multilateral negotiations to achieve broader and deeper reductions in global trade barriers, while bilateral and regional agreements have flourished, raises important questions about the WTO and its future. Will large agreements that establish new rules in new areas, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, relegate the WTO to insignificance, merely lower its profile, or provide a much-needed jolt by suggesting best practices that will ultimately strengthen the multilateral system?
You can register for the WTO event here: http://www.cato.org/events/wto-uncertain-future-multilateralism
In a sense, these two events go together. What is the future of trade negotiations? Multilateral at the WTO? "Mega-Regional" at the TPP and T-TIP? It seems like we are at a crossroads of sorts right now in the trade negotiating world.
