International economic architecture for trade and investment in the 21st century

When the World Trade Organization (WTO) convenes its 10th Ministerial meeting in Nairobi in December, the global trade landscape could look very different than the one we are familiar with today. The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement may be finalized, the European Union and the United States may have concluded a framework for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement in Asia should be close to finalization, and the Trade in Services Agreement is likely to become a new and potentially very significant plurilateral agreement at the WTO. Given these significant changes in the international economic architecture and how they address 21st century trade issues—such as the ever-rapidly growing role of digital trade—the challenges and opportunities for crafting a new set of international rules for trade and investment are immense. 

On September 9, the Brookings Institution and the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands co-hosted a panel discussion on the evolving nature of these trade agreements, the opportunities and challenges they present for addressing 21st century trade issues, and what they mean more broadly for the future of the multilateral trading system at the WTO.