America as a Pacific Power?

NEW YORK, March 9, 2017 — As part of an ongoing series on President Trump and Asia, Asia Society hosted a high-level panel to discuss how President Trump’s “America First”-focused policy could affect America’s role as a Pacific economic power. Panelists included Wendy Cutler, Shotaro Oshima, and Daniel Rosen. The conversation was moderated by The Financial Times’ Rana Foroohar. (1 hr., 17 min.)

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th U.S. President surprised observers on both sides of the Pacific, and has raised more questions than answers in terms of what it means for U.S. policy in Asia. President Trump’s “America First”-focused policy has called for tougher trade, investment, and currency policies, particularly vis-à-vis China, which could have significant reverberations across Asia.

What would a U.S.-China trade war mean for Asian economies? And given President Trump’s calls for protectionist policies to “Make America Great Again,” how will the U.S. engage with Asia’s current powerhouse of growth — ASEAN? Or the booming workforce and populist growth policies of India?

Meanwhile, in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, what does this mean for Asia’s trade agreements and America’s role as a Pacific economic power? Will the U.S. be successful in pursing bilateral trade agreements with Japan and others?

Join us for a special panel discussion on this and more – part of our ongoing series President Trump & Asia.

Speakers
Wendy Cutler, Vice President, ASPI; Former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
Peter Grey, former Ambassador of Australia to Japan & the World Trade Organization
Shotaro Oshima, former Special Representative of Japan for the TPP; former Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Korea; former Permanent Representative to the WTO
Daniel Rosen, Founding Partner and China lead, Rhodium Group
Rana Foroohar, Global Economic Analyst at CNN (moderator)