Demonstrators rally for fair trade at the Capitol, Washington, May 7, 2014 (AP photo by J. Scott Applewhite).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the potential impact on members’ economies. Lukewarm industry support in the United States for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has put the ratification of the 12-nation trade deal by Congress into question. In an email interview, Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discussed the potential benefits and downsides of the TPP for the U.S. WPR: What economic benefits is the U.S. expected to see from its participation in the TPP? Edward Alden: The short-term benefits are likely to be modest. […]

U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Manila, Philippines, Nov. 18, 2015 (AP photo by Susan Walsh).

There is no other area of global governance—not climate change, not management of the oceans, not monetary policy, not peacekeeping—in which the nations of the world have agreed to cooperate more closely than on the rules governing international trade. But over the past half-century, each step toward greater trade cooperation has been a bit harder than the last. The fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement—the recently concluded mega-regional deal linking the United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim countries—will likely decide whether the historic project of building better global rules for trade continues, or collapses under its […]

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrives at the 10th East Asia Summit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 22, 2015 (AP photo by Lai Seng Sin).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the potential impact on members’ economies. Since the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal between 12 Pacific Rim countries, was agreed to last month, many in Australia have expressed concern over its intellectual property provisions. In an email interview, Leon Berkelmans, the director of the international economy program at the Lowy Institute, discussed the potential impact of the TPP on Australia’s economy. WPR: What economic benefits is Australia expected to see from its participation in the TPP? Leon Berkelmans: Agriculture is an area where there […]