ALI and WITA co-hosted a webinar with Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee. The conversation focused on the need to reform of trade and the WTO, the importance of pushing back on increasing protectionism, and an agenda for the next Administration.

There are three phases associated with the pandemic, all influencing international relations and trade: emergency phase, mitigation phase until there is a vaccine, and recovery phase.

ALI and WITA co-hosted a webinar with Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA), a member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee and a thought leader on technology and digital policy. The conversation focused on the importance of the U.S. to lead on setting up a domestic and international digital regulatory regime, one that will ensure an internet that is secure, transparent, and open for business.

ALI members only event
ALI convened Members of Congress together with senior thought leaders from civil society, think tanks and business to discuss digital trade and national security policy. Discussion centered around the need for the U.S. to set its own regulatory agenda in order to lead globally, the need for a plurilateral high standard trade agreement to supplement the WTO negotiations, and the need for a Digital Marshall Plan to enable…

ALI members only event
ALI brought together an impressive group of Freshmen Democrats for a discussion on USMCA and China trade, workforce training and how to message about these issues in their districts. Congressman Ron Kind, having just returned from Geneva, kicked off the conversation discussing the importance of global rules and multilateralism.

ALI co-hosted a roundtable with the Alliance to End Hunger examining reforms in trade and development which could reduce poverty and hunger. Senior thought leaders from civil society, think tanks and business joined the discussion.

Six members of Congress participated in ALI’s Trade Policy Forum discussing a new paradigm for trade policy.  Thought leaders from think tanks, business and civil society, along with senior congressional staff joined the discussion.

ALI hosted a roundtable on trade preferences and development with congressional staff, NGO and private sector participants, as well as participants from NGOs, including Bread for the World and The Alliance for Hunger.  Speakers were Kimberly Elliott from the Center for Global Development, Eric Biel from the Fair Labor Association, and Stephanie Lester, from Gap, Inc. The discussion centered on how the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) can be improved and expanded. Several key conclusions emerged from the discussion:

ALI convened this group to discuss Trade and WTO reform, using Paula Stern’s piece “Reforming and Strengthening the WTO: America’s Path back to Global Leadership,” as a conversation starter. The conversation moved from a discussion on WTO reform, to a discussion of China’s role in the global trading system, to a discussion of how politicians can talk about trade.

The American Leadership Initiative hosted two roundtables to consider whether and how corruption and rule-of-law could be addressed as a major US foreign policy concern. We agreed that this issue is gaining prominence and relevance, with an increasing number of people and organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, seeking to address the challenges of Rule of Law and corruption in developing countries. There are also many overlapping facets to the issue – ineffective judicial systems, impunity for public officials, longstanding corruption in procurement, state-owned enterprises, customs agencies and regulators, etc.