Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
For decades, Washington state has prospered from the enormous expansion of global trade, bolstered by the U.S. government and by agreements enshrined in the World Trade Organization and dozens of other treaties that cut tariffs and created predictable rules for global commerce. Our state is the most trade dependent in the country, and China is our largest trading partner, followed by Canada. But in the past decade, those rules have weakened dramatically, and in his second term President Donald Trump has raised U.S. tariffs on imports to the highest levels since the 1930s. Please join Washington Council on International Trade President Lori Otto Punke and WWU economics professors Edward Alden and Jason Query for this timely discussion on why the global trading order is falling apart and what it means for our state.
Featuring:
Edward Alden
Edward Alden’s career spans more than three decades in journalism, think tanks and academia. He is the Ross Distinguished Visiting Professor at Western Washington University and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. He is the author of Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy, and his latest book, co-authored with Laurie Trautman, is When the World Closed its Doors: The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Future of Borders. He was previously Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times and is a columnist for Foreign Policy.
Lori Otto Punke
Lori Otto Punke is president of the Washington Council on International Trade, a coalition supporting trade and investment policies that increase the competitiveness of Washington state workers and businesses. She previously held a variety of public affairs positions at Starbucks and Microsoft and also served as a senior policy advisor to US Senate leadership. She is a fellow of the US-Japan Leadership program and a former member of the NASDAQ Public Policy Advisory Committee. Lori earned her B.A. from George Washington University and studied in London and Madrid. She is an avid runner, cyclist, and anything outside.
Dr. Jason Query
Jason Query is an associate professor of Economics at Western Washington University and received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oregon in 2015. Jason was a Fulbright Japan Scholar during the 2024-2025 academic year. His teaching interests include international economics, sports economics, and microeconomic theory. His research examines how non-policy trade barriers inhibit international trade. His recent work examines how cultural differences reduce trade.
Brought to you by:
WWU Management Department, The Paul Storer Memorial Lecture on Canada-U.S. Relations, CBE Center for International Business, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
For decades, Washington state has prospered from the enormous expansion of global trade, bolstered by the U.S. government and by agreements enshrined in the World Trade Organization and dozens of other treaties that cut tariffs and created predictable rules for global commerce. Our state is the most trade dependent in the country, and China is our largest trading partner, followed by Canada. But in the past decade, those rules have weakened dramatically, and in his second term President Donald Trump has raised U.S. tariffs on imports to the highest levels since the 1930s. Please join Washington Council on International Trade President Lori Otto Punke and WWU economics professors Edward Alden and Jason Query for this timely discussion on why the global trading order is falling apart and what it means for our state.
Featuring:
Edward Alden
Edward Alden’s career spans more than three decades in journalism, think tanks and academia. He is the Ross Distinguished Visiting Professor at Western Washington University and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. He is the author of Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy, and his latest book, co-authored with Laurie Trautman, is When the World Closed its Doors: The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Future of Borders. He was previously Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times and is a columnist for Foreign Policy.
Lori Otto Punke
Lori Otto Punke is president of the Washington Council on International Trade, a coalition supporting trade and investment policies that increase the competitiveness of Washington state workers and businesses. She previously held a variety of public affairs positions at Starbucks and Microsoft and also served as a senior policy advisor to US Senate leadership. She is a fellow of the US-Japan Leadership program and a former member of the NASDAQ Public Policy Advisory Committee. Lori earned her B.A. from George Washington University and studied in London and Madrid. She is an avid runner, cyclist, and anything outside.
Dr. Jason Query
Jason Query is an associate professor of Economics at Western Washington University and received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oregon in 2015. Jason was a Fulbright Japan Scholar during the 2024-2025 academic year. His teaching interests include international economics, sports economics, and microeconomic theory. His research examines how non-policy trade barriers inhibit international trade. His recent work examines how cultural differences reduce trade.
Brought to you by:
WWU Management Department, The Paul Storer Memorial Lecture on Canada-U.S. Relations, CBE Center for International Business, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
