Event Summary
The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) released Bridging the Pacific: Toward Free Trade and Investment between China and the United States on October 16, 2014. PIIE coauthors C. Fred Bergsten, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, and Sean Miner presented the book's conclusions.
Ambassador Carla Hills, chairman and CEO of Hills & Company, and member of the Institute's board of directors, chaired the event. Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of International Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, commented on the economic relationship between China and the United States and the book's proposed reforms and practical steps to facilitate a deepening of economic ties between these two countries.
The terrain of the world trading system is shifting as countries in Asia, Europe, and North America negotiate new trade agreements. However, none of these talks include both China and the United States, the two biggest economies in the world. In this pathbreaking study, coauthors Bergsten, Hufbauer, and Miner argue that China and the United States would benefit substantially from a bilateral free trade and investment accord. In the process, they contend, each country would also achieve progress in addressing its internal economic challenges, such as the low saving rate in the United States.
Event Materials
Book: Bridging the Pacific: Toward Free Trade and Investment between China and the United States
C. Fred Bergsten, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, and Sean Miner, and assisted by Tyler Moran
September 2014
Presentation [pdf]