The focus of the Trump administration’s trade policy to date has been on renegotiating existing trade deals (with a mix of minor liberalization and modest new protectionism), putting tariffs on a wide range of imports using flimsy justifications, and engaging in a high-profile trade war with China. By contrast, it has put very little effort into pushing for significant new trade liberalization.

That may be about to change. The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has just sent letters to Congress formally notifying the administration’s intent to enter into trade negotiations with the EU, Japan, and the UK. Cato scholars have called for exactly these negotiations (see here, here, and here, and much more detail here).

There is a lot of work ahead, as these negotiations won’t be easy. They would have been easier if the administration had not imposed “national security” tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from these very same trading partners. Nevertheless, almost two years into the Trump administration, there is finally a glimmer of hope that there could be some trade liberalization coming.