ECIPE Seminar: Trade in Uncertain Times and the Role of Global Economic Powers

Given the turn in US trade policy after the election of Trump and the continuing challenges in integrating China into the global trading system, the seminar will discuss possible strategies how to deal with these major powers. The US and China are key markets for the EU in terms of size, but difficult to deal with and not only increasingly nationalist, but also unpredictable and at times confrontational. So how should countries which seek a liberal and stable framework for trade deal with these major economic powers? How are relations with the US and China accommodated in international trade relations? Should the EU and like-minded countries make a serious effort to negotiate with these countries, or instead focus its energies elsewhere, or is there a middle ground? What role do we expect from the global trading system and what will be the role of nationalist countries within it?