The Trans‐​Pacific Partnership: The Uncertain Path from Agreement to Ratification to Implementation

After 6 years of negotiations, a Trans‐​Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement among 12 countries on 4 continents was struck in Atlanta this month. The deal, should it be ratified and implemented, would constitute the world’s largest trade agreement since the Uruguay Round produced the World Trade Organization in 1995.

But ratification is not assured. Objections to the TPP’s terms from Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike ensure that 2016, in the midst of the political debates, elections, and conventions, will provide the backdrop for a national referendum on the TPP and on trade and globalization more broadly.

Join Cato trade policy scholars for a discussion of the most salient issues going into 2016 and what needs to happen to ratify and implement the TPP.