Although trade agreements and regulations have often been a source of domestic controversy, they have seldom been as hotly debated as they were during the 2016 election. Since taking office, the Trump administration has announced plans to withdraw from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has signaled its intention to withdraw from or renegotiate a number of the trade agreements in which the United States currently participates, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

This online briefing from the American Society of International Law features former senior US officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations who were responsible for representing the US Government in its trade negotiations around the world and developing and implementing US trade policy. They discuss the role that international law plays in global trade agreements and disputes; the institutions that address those disputes; what authority the president has, acting on his own, to modify or withdraw from those agreements; criticisms and proposed reforms of the current international trade system; and the possible paths forward for pursuing US economic interests abroad in the Trump administration.