	Introduction

Congress plays a central role in the negotiation, approval and implementation of U.S. trade agreements, reflecting its constitutional authority over foreign commerce. As Congress works with the Trump Administration in establishing and implementing U.S. trade policy, it may have interest in more closely examining the implications of the type and content of U.S. trade agreements and those pursued by major U.S. trading partners that exclude the United States. Key questions to consider may include
how other countries' trade agreements may affect U.S. economic and strategic interests and negotiating priorities; the influence of bilateral and regional agreements on broader international commercial norms and their impact on the multilateral trading system; the role of the United States in international trade agreement negotiations; whether the United States should pursue new trade agreement negotiations and if so how to prioritize potential partners; and the costs and benefits of bilateral versus multi-party or regional negotiating approaches. This includes the U.S. withdrawal from the signed but not ratified 12-party Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), renegotiation of existing FTAs, including with a stated intent to place a major focus on trade imbalances, and a stated preference to negotiate future agreements bilaterally, rather than on a multi-party or regional basis. Congress will likely play a critical role in shaping future U.S. trade agreements since it must pass implementing legislation to bring FTAs into force. In order to receive expedited legislative consideration, such trade agreements must advance the U.S. trade negotiating objectives Congress established in its 2015 grant of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which is scheduled to remain in effect until July 1, 2021 unless Congress enacts, by July 1, 2018, an extension disapproval resolution regarding the Administration's recently submitted extension request. WTO Rules on RTAs

The WTO Agreements provide three different exceptions for RTAs. The economic effects of trade liberalization under RTAs are less clear, due to their discriminatory nature. The Obama Administration also pursued two major multi-party FTA negotiations, which, if implemented, would have nearly doubled the share of U.S. trade occurring with FTA partners. The Obama Administration also initiated negotiations with the European Union (EU), collectively the largest U.S. trade and investment partner, on a potential Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). These stem in part from updated negotiating objectives in the 2002 grant of TPA as well as the 2007 agreement between the George W. Bush Administration and congressional leadership known as the "May 10 th Agreement," which further clarified U.S. trade negotiating objectives; The Jordan FTA was negotiated and ratified without TPA procedures in effect in 2001, and generally has less extensive commitments than NAFTA (e.g., the FTA contains no commitments on investment); and The multilateral Uruguay Round Agreements entered into force in 1995, one year after NAFTA became effective, and included commitments on issues also included in NAFTA, such as services trade, intellectual property rights protections, agriculture and dispute settlement. Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) . Some U.S. FTAs also establish industry-specific TBT commitments. U.S. Trade Shares with FTA Partners

U.S. FTAs have been a significant component of U.S. trade policy, have been influential in establishing new rules for the global trading system, and are a major focus of the current U.S. trade debate. Since 1990, the number of RTAs in force and notified to the WTO has increased seven-fold, while metrics on the average depth of provisions (i.e., the number of legally enforceable commitments) have doubled over the same period. As of May 2018, there were 287 such agreements in force and notified to the WTO of which the United States is party to 14 (involving 20 countries). However, other countries continue to pursue mega-regional pacts such as the recently concluded but not yet ratified and implemented Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement without the United States, making it likely that mega-regional agreements will remain a significant component of the global trading system for the foreseeable future. Economically significant trade agreements currently under negotiation or awaiting implementation include (see " Major U.S. Trade Partners' RTAs " for more)
EU-Japan RTA, which includes two of the five largest U.S. trading partners; CPTPP, which includes all TPP countries except the United States; Expansion of the Pacific Alliance (current members Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru are negotiating with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore); Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes several of the world's largest economies, such as China, Japan, India, and South Korea; and Tripartite Agreement and Continental Free Trade Area, 27- and 55-member RTA negotiations, respectively, encompassing all major African economies. While RTAs may deepen existing multilateral commitments by further reducing tariffs or providing additional access to services markets, they may also go beyond WTO rules and establish new provisions. From the U.S. perspective, this heterogeneity in RTAs raises at least two questions: (1) are these agreements adhering to the WTO criteria on RTAs and creating an environment conducive to future multilateral negotiations, and (2) are these agreements creating new rules that differ in type from U.S. RTAs and how could those new rules affect U.S. interests? In general, U.S. FTAs cover a broader range of issues than most global RTAs. Services. Better coordination in regulatory approaches to minimize impediments to trade was a primary goal of the now stalled T-TIP negotiations. None of China's RTAs include enforceable labor or environmental commitments. European Union

			China

			Canada

			Mexico

			Japan

			South Korea

			United States

	Issues for Congress

Both domestically and internationally, shifts are underway in trade agreement policies that Congress may consider whether to address. As other countries, particularly economically significant powers such as the EU, China, and Japan, move forward with new agreements that do not involve the United States, some trade policy experts worry that the United States may be losing an opportunity to shape future trade rules and influence other countries in adopting standards in areas such as IPR and labor. These industries have raised concerns over the potential disadvantage in foreign markets due to other countries RTA negotiations.
Congress plays a prominent role in shaping, debating, and approving legislation to implement trade agreements, and over the past three decades, bilateral and regional trade agreements (RTAs, or free trade agreements (FTAs) in the U.S. context) have become a primary source of new international trade liberalization commitments. The United States has historically pursued FTAs to open markets for U.S. goods, services, and agriculture, and establish trade rules and disciplines to enhance overall domestic and global economic growth. They are actively debated and can be contentious due to concerns over the potential employment effects of greater import competition, among other reasons.
RTAs are reciprocal preferential arrangements among two or more parties. Their content has evolved significantly, partly as a result of change in the international economy where new trade barriers have been erected and/or where RTAs may provide a testing ground for new trade rules for potential future multilateral agreement. The United States historically has aimed for comprehensive coverage in eliminating barriers to trade and addressing all sectors in its FTAs. In addition to the reduction and elimination of tariffs and more traditional nontariff trade barriers, U.S. FTAs also cover services trade, enhance intellectual property rights (IPR), provide investment protections, and include enforceable labor and environmental commitments. Some countries pursue more limited agreements—only half of RTAs worldwide cover services and they rarely include labor and environmental provisions.
Congressional interest in U.S. and global RTAs stems from their potential economic and foreign policy implications, implementation issues, and Congress' role in establishing U.S. trade policy (Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress authority to regulate foreign commerce). In its 2015 grant of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), Congress set specific negotiating objectives for U.S. trade agreements that must be advanced in order for Congress to provide expedited consideration to the implementing legislation needed to bring new agreements into force. TPA is scheduled to be in effect through July 2021, unless Congress, before July 1, 2018, enacts an extension disapproval resolution regarding the Administration's recently submitted extension request.
Since 1990, the number of RTAs in force globally has grown six-fold from fewer than 50 to nearly 300. All 164 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are now party to at least one RTA; as of 2014 each member had on average 11 RTA partners. The United States began negotiating FTAs in the 1980s, and as of 2018, is party to 14 such agreements involving 20 trading partners. The multilateral trading system, meanwhile, has not produced a broad set of new trade liberalization agreements (excluding more limited scope agreements, such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement) since the Uruguay Round, which also established the WTO in 1995.
In the current environment of stalled multilateral negotiations, RTAs provide an alternative venue to pursue trade liberalization and establish new rules on emerging issues. RTAs are, however, inherently discriminatory given their limited membership (i.e., they provide preferential treatment to some countries and not others), leading to debate over their global economic effect and whether they serve to facilitate future multilateral agreements or lead to the creation of competing trade blocs. U.S. exporters benefit from the preferential aspects of FTAs when they gain better access to FTA partner markets than their foreign competitors, but may be similarly harmed when third parties negotiate agreements that do not include the United States.
To date there are no RTAs in force between the world's largest economies (China, Japan, European Union (EU), and the United States). This could change in the near future as these and other major U.S. trading partners are involved in several pending RTAs, including an ongoing negotiation between 16 Asian nations that involves both China and Japan, and two recently concluded but not yet ratified and implemented RTAs: the EU-Japan agreement (one of twelve pending EU RTAs) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
In some ways, the United States has pulled back from its recent FTA policy. Under the Obama Administration, the United States pursued two major regional FTA negotiations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) including Japan and 10 other Asia-Pacific nations, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) with the European Union. These FTAs would have nearly doubled the share of U.S. trade occurring with FTA partners. The Trump Administration, however, has criticized existing FTAs, withdrawn the United States from the concluded but not enacted TPP, placed the T-TIP negotiations on hold, and initiated renegotiation or modification of the largest U.S. FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and South Korea. The Administration has also stated its intent to negotiate future FTAs on a bilateral rather than multi-party basis.
As other countries move forward with new RTA negotiations that cover a significant share of world trade, a number of issues arise that may be of interest to Congress, including how these agreements will affect U.S. economic and strategic interests, their impact on U.S. leadership in trade liberalization efforts and establishing new trade rules, and the appropriate U.S. response.