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Susan G. Esserman |
Rep. David Dreier |
J. Michael Finger |
Razeen Sally |
Bob Vastine |
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Bill Lash |
Bill Niskanen |
Ron Cass |
Brink Lindsey |
About the Conference
Beginning November 30, the most important international trade meeting ever held on U.S. soil will convene in Seattle, when representatives of the 134 member nations of the World Trade Organization meet to launch a new round of global trade negotiations.
On the agenda will be liberalizing trade in the huge and growing services sector, including banking, insurance, and telecommunications, and reducing barriers and subsidies to trade in the contentious area of agriculture. Manufacturing tariffs, competition policy, antidumping rules, electronic commerce, and environmental and labor issues are all being pushed for inclusion. For both advocates and opponents of trade, the meeting promises to be a galvanizing symbol of America's growing ties to the global economy.
This all-day conference hosted by the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy explored the prospects for the upcoming round, the role of the WTO in promoting global prosperity, and the challenge of building support for free trade at home. A distinguished lineup of expert panelists was joined by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Susan G. Esserman, who outlined U.S. objectives on the eve of the new WTO round.
This event is archived in RealVideo. You must have RealNetworks™ RealPlayer™ to view webcasts.
Schedule of Events
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Brink Lindsey, Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Panel I—The Limited (but Important) Role of the WTO
Moderator, John Burgess, Washington Post
Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth College
Bill Lash, George Mason University School of Law
Full text of "The Limited but Important Role of the WTO" [PDF]Razeen Sally, London School of Economics
Full text of "National Trade Policy Reform and the Millennium Round: The Case for Developing Countries and Countries in Transition" [PDF]Dan Griswold, Associate Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Opening Remarks and Panel I [RealVideo]
Keynote Address
Susan G. Esserman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
Keynote Address [RealVideo]
Read the event transcript [PDF, 7 pp, 27 kb]
Panel II—Prospects for the Upcoming Trade Round
Moderator, Mark Groombridge, Research Fellow, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Jeffrey Schott, Institute for International Economics
Paul Morris, Embassy of Australia
Full text of "Redefining Agriculture in the WTO: Creating One Class of Goods" [PDF]Bob Vastine, Coalition of Service Industries
Full text of "Prospects for Services Trade Liberalization in the New Trade Round" [PDF]Eric Koenig, Microsoft Law and Government Affairs
Panel II [RealVideo]
Panel II... Continued [RealVideo]
Panel III—Building Support at Home for Free Trade
Moderator, Jutta Hennig, Chief Editor, Inside U.S. Trade
Russell Roberts, Washington University-St. Louis
Full text of "Speaking about Trade to the Open Minded Skeptic" [PDF]Ron Cass, Boston University
Full text of "Building Support for Free Trade: A Rockne Role?" [PDF]Brink Lindsey, Cato Institute
Grant Aldonas, Chief Counsel, Senate Finance Committee
Closing Remarks:
William Niskanen, Chairman, Cato Institute
Panel III and Closing Remarks [RealVideo]
Additional Paper
Full text of "The Limited (But Not Sufficiently So) Role of the WTO" [PDF] by J. Michael Finger, Lead economist for trade policy, World Bank