Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues

Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown explain the recent 90-day agreement between Presidents Trump and Xi that puts on hold further tariff escalation between the United States and China. They speak with Mark Wu (Harvard Law) and former Obama administration official Caroline Atkinson about the complexities of negotiating with China over intellectual property enforcement, cyber theft, and the forced transfer of technology arising through joint ventures.

Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown speak with veteran trade journalist Alan Beattie (Financial Times) about the complexities of negotiating with the European Union on trade. They discuss the European Union’s dealings with the United Kingdom over Brexit and the Irish border, as well as how it has negotiated with other countries over regulatory differences, mutual recognition agreements, digital trade, and more.

Keynes and Bown discuss the prospect of negotiations between the United States and the European Union on a trade deal that would meet President Trump’s objectives of zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers, and zero subsidies. They speak with Arancha Gonzalez (International Trade Centre) about the two partners’ long history of trade frictions, previous negotiating starts-and-stops, and prospects for a bilateral deal this time around.

Keynes and Bown speak with Amit Khandelwal (Columbia Business School) about the impact that exporting has on firm productivity. They discuss his evidence from a randomized control trial that new foreign market access improved how Egyptian firms make and sell rugs and generated learning by exporting.

Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown speak with incoming World Bank Chief Economist Penny Goldberg (Yale University) about her research on how trade liberalization affects consumers and firms when firms have market power. They discuss the impact that India’s early 1990s tariff cuts—to both outputs and imported inputs—had on the profits and markups of domestic firms and the puzzle behind why consumer prices fell relatively little.

Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown talk with former WTO Appellate Body member Jennifer Hillman about WTO dispute settlement. They describe the procedural, philosophical, and judicial complaints the United States has with the current way of addressing trade frictions, potential solutions to those problems, and how the American refusal to appoint new Appellate Body members could soon destroy the functionality of the entire multilateral system of enforcement.

Keynes and Bown talk with Stephen Redding (Princeton University) about his research on the border between East and West Germany erected in the mid-20th century. They discuss the loss of market access for cities near the border, and how being cut off from one's neighbors affected the local economy. Spoiler: It wasn't pretty.

Keynes and Bown talk about trade with best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Bob Woodward about his latest book "Fear: Trump in the White House." Woodward's reporting sheds light on the White House's lurching policies, with telling anecdotes about snatching trade agreement withdrawal letters off the president's desk and impromptu Oval Office meetings with steel company CEOs.

Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown describe key elements of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, or USMCA, announced on October 1, 2018. Beneath the spin, they analyze what the deal really does, including where new market access has been granted, and where new rules have been written. Will the new deal generate American jobs in car manufacturing? Will it strengthen Mexico's labor standards? Will it stop Canada from signing a future trade deal with China?

Keynes and Bown speak with Bruce Stokes (Pew Research Center) about recent poll results on public attitudes toward trade. They discuss how Americans feel about trade and trade agreements, China, differences between self-identified Democrats and Republicans, as well as attitudes in other countries toward the United States.