210. What is America’s problem with the WTO? @PetersonInstitute

Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Former US ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Maria Pagán joins for a wide-ranging conversation about US government concerns with the WTO, the Trump administration’s actions so far, and the failures of the recent ministerial conference in Cameroon (33:00).

210. What is America’s problem with the WTO?

The Strait of Hormuz closure: What happens to trade and shipping?

213. Ups and downs at the Port of Los Angeles

Mary E. Lovely on the costs of Trump’s trade war with Canada

The EU-Mercosur trade agreement is finally happening

Olivier Blanchard on Eurobonds and optimism for Europes future

$Book launch: World War Trade: Conflict, Containment, and the Emergent World Trading Order Globalization is not dying. It is being rebuilt. When the United States and China weaponized trade in 2025, many feared the collapse of the global economy. Markets plunged, supply chains fractured, and policymakers spoke openly of economic warfare. But the collapse never came. In his new book, World War Trade, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, Richard Baldwin argues that the real story is not the conflict between superpowers but how the rest of the world responded. Through quiet restraint, strategic adaptation, and a wave of new trade agreements, countries representing the majority of global commerce prevented a 1930s-style breakdown. What has emerged is a new kind of globalization: less centralized, less US-led, but still deeply interconnected—a system shaped not by design but by the self-organizing forces of politics, economics, and necessity. Following his presentation of his new book, Baldwin and Mary E. Lovely discuss new ways to understand global trade in an age of rivalry and a clear-eyed view of what comes next. WELCOME REMARKS Adam S. Posen President, PIIE MODERATOR Mary E. Lovely Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow, PIIE PRESENTER Richard Baldwin Nonresident Senior Fellow, PIIE For more information, visit: https://www.piie.com/events/2026/book-launch-world-war-trade-conflict-containment-and-emergent-world-trading-order Subscribe to receive notices of upcoming PIIE events: https://www.piie.com/subscribe Follow the Peterson Institute for International Economics on social media! Twitter: https://twitter.com/piie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/piie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/piie.com$

Mary E. Lovely on how US tariffs have failed to reduce dependence on China

Central banking for open economies in a changed world

Ukraines fiscal and financial challenges

215. How China’s trade is holding back developing countries

Peterson Institute for International Economics |

210. What is America’s problem with the WTO?