Professor of Law : Georgetown University, and Director,
Institute of International Economic Law
Most of the agreements involve trade and regulatory coordination. But the big idea, as I’ve noted elsewhere, is that even as bilateralism appears to be on the rise in systemically important countries, it is far from easy to operationalize.
At last month’s meeting of Asia-Pacific states, US officials reiterated one of the less noticed positions of the 2016 Presidential campaign: we’re willing to talk trade with pretty much anyone, but only bilaterally. Regional deals aren’t really in the cards.