Policy Forum 

# Does the World Trade Organization Serve America’s Interests in the Global Economy? 

Date and Time 

May 11, 2005 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Auditorium/Wintergarden 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Douglas Irwin**, Dartmouth College; **Grant Aldonas**, Former Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade; and **Rep. Ron Paul**, R‑TX. 

The U.S. House will soon vote on a resolution to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization. Supporters of the WTO maintain that U.S. membership encourages trade liberalization through multilateral negotiations, while establishing a rules-based system that protects the interests of American consumers and producers. Critics see the WTO as a threat to U.S. sovereignty and a lightning rod for more general discontents about free trade. Assessing the merits of U.S. membership in the WTO will be Douglas Irwin, one of the nation’s leading free-trade economists and author of the book *Free Trade under Fire* (2nd ed.), newly published by Princeton University Press; Grant Aldonas, a former top trade official in the Bush administration; and Rep. Ron Paul, a sponsor of the resolution to end U.S. membership.

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