Welcome to ESOP's Global Economy podcast. My name is Frederick Erickson. And today we're going to talk about US trade policy. More specifically, what is US trade policy today and how does the Biden administration

think about trade and America's role in the world economic order?

In late April, Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor, gave an important speech at the Brookings

institutions about renewing America's economic leadership and the key

tenants of Biden administration's view on international economic policy. To explain its trade and

industrial policy and how the US is revaluing its support for international trade rules,

Sullivan reached for the example of architectural avant-godism. He said,

in our quote, the way that we're going to build an international economic architecture is not

going to be with Parthenon-style clear pillars as we did after the end of the Second World War,

but something that feels a little bit more like Frank Gary, end quote.

Google Frank Gary, if you don't know who he is, and you will get a good image on what Sullivan

has in mind for the international economic architecture. For those of you, less interested in

forms and architectural imagery. The key message from Jake Sullivan was that the

administration will continue to seek new ways to boost industry and that is not going to lose

any sleep over its dismissive attitude to trade rules and the absence of any substantial

trade policy in America today. With me to discuss Sullivan's speech and help me to decipher U.S. trade policy,

I have two highly experienced experts, Keith Rockwell and Stuart Harbenson,

also published a blog on exactly this topic,

and we'll put a link to that blog in the show notes.

Keith was for many years the director of the information and external relations division

at the World Trade Organization and was its chief spokesperson.

He's now with the Wilson Center and the Inris Foundation.

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