About the Conference

Beginning November 30, the most important international trade meeting ever held on U.S. soil will convene in Seattle, when representatives of the 134 member nations of the World Trade Organization meet to launch a new round of global trade negotiations.

On the agenda will be liberalizing trade in the huge and growing services sector, including banking, insurance, and telecommunications, and reducing barriers and subsidies to trade in the contentious area of agriculture. Manufacturing tariffs, competition policy, antidumping rules, electronic commerce, and environmental and labor issues are all being pushed for inclusion. For both advocates and opponents of trade, the meeting promises to be a galvanizing symbol of America’s growing ties to the global economy.

This all-day conference hosted by the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy explored the prospects for the upcoming round, the role of the WTO in promoting global prosperity, and the challenge of building support for free trade at home. A distinguished lineup of expert panelists was joined by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Susan G. Esserman, who outlined U.S. objectives on the eve of the new WTO round.

This event is archived in RealVideo. You must have RealNetworks™ RealPlayer™ to view webcasts.

Schedule of Events

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Brink Lindsey, Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute

Panel I - The Limited (but Important) Role of the WTO

Moderator, John Burgess, Washington Post

Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth College

Bill Lash, George Mason University School of Law

Full text of "The Limited but Important Role of the WTO" (pdf)

Razeen Sally, London School of Economics

Full text of "National Trade Policy Reform and the Millennium Round: The Case for Developing Countries and Countries in Transition" (pdf)

Dan Griswold, Associate Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute

Watch RealVideo Archive of Opening Remarks and Panel I

Keynote Address

Susan G. Esserman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

Watch RealVideo Archive of Keynote Address

Read the event transcript (PDF, 7 pp, 27 kb)

Panel II - Prospects for the Upcoming Trade Round

Moderator, Mark Groombridge, Research Fellow, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute

Jeffrey Schott, Institute for International Economics

Paul Morris, Embassy of Australia

Full text of "Redefining Agriculture in the WTO: Creating One Class of Goods" (pdf)

Bob Vastine, Coalition of Service Industries

Full text of "Prospects for Services Trade Liberalization in the New Trade Round" (pdf)

Eric Koenig, Microsoft Law and Government Affairs

Watch RealVideo Archive of Panel II

RealVideo Archive of Panel II - Continued

Panel III - Building Support at Home for Free Trade

Moderator, Jutta Hennig, Cheif Editor, Inside U.S. Trade

Russell Roberts, Washington University-St. Louis

Full text of "Speaking about Trade to the Open Minded Skeptic" (pdf)

Ron Cass, Boston University

Full text of "Building Support for Free Trade: A Rockne Role?" (pdf)

Brink Lindsey, Cato Institute

Grant Aldonas, Chief Counsel, Senate Finance Committee

Closing Remarks:

William Niskanen, Chairman, Cato Institute

Watch RealVideo Archive of Panel III

Additional Paper

Full text of "The Limited (But Not Sufficiently So) Role of the WTO" by J. Michael Finger, Lead economist for trade policy, World Bank