Dear Secretary Barton,
This submission is in relation to your investigation on Economic Impact of Trade Agreements Implemented under Trade Authorities Procedures, 2021 Update. We believe this investigation is a useful exercise, and we welcome the opportunity to provide our views.
Our submission focuses on two general shortcomings that we have identified as a particular challenge for economic impact assessments of trade agreements: 1) insufficient public information on the operation of many trade agreements, which makes it difficult for the members of the public to weigh in with constructive comments; and 2) methodological issues that can contribute to an incomplete picture of a trade agreement’s impact. We elaborate on these two points below.