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Reconceiving Trade Agreements for Social Inclusion

The current multilateral trading system is under challenge. With the election of President Trump in the United States, and the steady rise of neo-nationalist parties in Europe, the new trade policy mantra is that trade must be made more inclusive. But how is that to be achieved? The traditional trade policy approach to trade and social policy is typically in two steps. In the first step, countries sign international trade agreements to combat protectionist pressures and thereby mutually enhance national welfare. In the second step, recognizing that trade creates “losers” as well as “winners,” countries support those harmed through domestic social policy. This workshop explored whether the traditional approach of calling for countervailing domestic policy is sufficient, and whether trade agreements must be redesigned to integrate, whether directly or indirectly, social policy concerns. It explored and critiqued different ways that this might be done, whether in trade agreements themselves, or in other agreements, so that domestic policy to address social and developmental needs are facilitated.

Workshop Participants

• 

  Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

  Irwin I. Cohn Professor of Law
  Director, International Tax LLM Program
  University of Michigan Law School
• 

  Anupam Chander

  Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law
  Director, California International Law Center
  UC Davis School of Law
• 

  Harlan G. Cohen

  Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law
  Faculty Co-Director, Dean Rusk International Law Center
  University of Georgia School of Law
• 

  Keith E. Maskus

  Arts and Sciences Professor of Distinction in Economics
  University of Colorado Boulder
• 

  Timothy Meyer

  Professor of Law
  Vanderbilt Law School
• 

  Sergio Puig

  Associate Professor of Law
  Director, International Economic Law and Policy Program
  The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
• 

  Priya Ranjan

  Professor of Economics
  University of California, Irvine
• 

  Kerry Rittich

  Professor
  Associate Dean, JD Program
  University of Toronto Faculty of Law
  Professor
  University of Toronto Women's and Gender Studies Institute
• 

  Gregory Shaffer

  Chancellor's Professor of Law
  Director, Center on Globalization, Law and Society
  University of California, Irvine School of Law
• 

  Chantal Thomas

  Professor of Law
  Director, Clarke Initiative for Law and Development in the Middle East and North Africa
  Cornell Law School
• 

  David Trubek

  Voss-Bascom Professor of Law
  Dean, International Studies Emeritus
  University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 

  Mark Wu

  Assistant Professor of Law
  Harvard Law School