Stepping Up Trade Leadership

New trade policies are being implemented without the U.S. at the table, which undercuts U.S. leadership and threatens U.S. interests around the world.

Produced by the CSIS Trade Commission on Affirming American Leadership and the CSIS iDeas Lab

  • East Asia & Pacific
  • Europe and Central Asia
  • Latin America
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • North America
  • South Asia
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • GDP data from the International Monetary Fund
  • Population data from the U.S. Census Bureau

Rapidly expanding populations are driving growth in some of the world’s fastest emerging economies and shifting the global middle class towards East and South Asia.

Rapidly expanding populations are driving growth in some of the world’s fastest emerging economies and shifting the global middle class towards East and South Asia.

Regional Connections

As these changes are occurring, trade negotiations - and therefore rulemaking - have shifted away from institutions like the WTO where the U.S. is an established leader.

Of the 303 Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) currently in force, 86% of them entered into force after the WTO was established in 1995.

Each circle represents one RTA. Circles sized by number of signatories.

  • 2 signatories
  • 40 signatories

RTA data from World Trade Organization

Of the 303 Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) currently in force, 86% of them entered into force after the WTO was established in 1995.
The U.S. has just 14 of these agreements with 20 partners. Less than…
....economic competitors like the European Union, which seeks to embed its own preferences (that are often times at odds with U.S. objectives) in trade agreements…
…and strategic rivals like China, which seeks which seeks to cement itself as the center of economic gravity and displace U.S. leadership.

Emerging Trade Regimes

The EU, China, and other economies in Asia are expanding their RTA networks through large multilateral agreements. If the U.S. does not act, it risks being left out of regional rulemaking and preferential commercial relationships in the fastest growing parts of the world.

CPTPP Participants + U.S.
RCEP Participants
EU-Japan Participants

The United States faces two challenges:

  1. A shrinking share of the global economy, while China, India, and others grow
  2. The growth of new trade rules and agreements
    without U.S. involvement

These developments threaten to undermine U.S. leadership and interests. Amid these challenges, the CSIS Trade Commission on Affirming American Leadership is developing recommendations to strengthen U.S. competitiveness and bolster U.S. leadership for the 21st century.