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Free trade agreements

Free trade agreements can remove trade barriers and increase the flow of goods and services between countries. We assess various agreements – whether multilateral, plurilateral or bilateral – to understand how FTAs can impact the global economy and individual countries.

Our FTA experts & contributors

Get access to proven experience and fresh thinking in cross-border trade, policy and business. Drawn from a wide range of disciplines and sectors, our experts offer valuable views and opinions on achieving sustainable global trade.

Harpreet Kaur

Business and Human Rights Specialist, UNDP Asia-Pacific

Emmanuel A. San Andres

Senior Analyst, APEC Policy Support Unit

Kurt Tong

Partner, The Asia Group

Areas of expertise

East Asia diplomacy and economic affairs
Free trade agreements
US-China relations
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member

Chuin Wei Yap

Program Director, International Trade Research, Hinrich Foundation

Clete Willems

Partner, Akin Gump

Areas of expertise

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
International trade policy
World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Resolution and Counseling

Stephen Olson

Former Senior Research Fellow, Hinrich Foundation

Areas of expertise

Sustainable trade
WTO
Trade negotiations
Free trade agreements
Tariffs & non-tariff barriers

Henry Gao

Professor of Law, Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Singapore Management University

Areas of expertise

WTO
China economic policy
International law
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member

Pindar Wong

Chairman, VeriFi (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Arpita Mukherjee

Professor, ICRIER

Stephanie Honey

Director, Honey Consulting

Mekhla Jha

Research Manager, International Trade Research, Hinrich Foundation

Raymond Robertson

Director, Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy, Texas A&M University

Kaleb Abreha

Assistant Research Scientist, Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy, Texas A&M University

Wendy Cutler

Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute

Areas of expertise

Free trade agreements
Asia Pacific trade
Regional integration

Stephen Jacobi

Executive Director, New Zealand International Business Forum

Denis Hew

Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, PhD and MA in Accounting and Finance (University of Manchester)

Nigel Cory

Associate Director, Trade Policy, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

Amitendu Palit

Senior Research Fellow; and Research Lead (Trade and Economics)

Henry Storey

Senior Analyst - Asia, Dragoman

Stewart Paterson

Research Fellow, Hinrich Foundation

Areas of expertise

Macroeconomics
Monetary policy
Political economy

Deborah Elms

Head of Trade Policy, Hinrich Foundation

Areas of expertise

WTO
Trade policy
Tariffs
Free trade agreements
Intellectual property rights
Digital trade
Trade and climate
Trade facilitation
Geoeconomics
Supply chains
Goods, services, customs, investments, MSMEs

Juita Mohamad

Director, Economics and Business Unit, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Malaysia

Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit

Assistant Professor and Head of the Centre for Multilateralism Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Jeffrey Wilson

Director of Research & Economics, Australian Industry Group

Paul Sracic

Professor, Politics and International Relations at Youngstown State University

Kati Suominen

Research Fellow, Hinrich Foundation and Founder and CEO, Nextrade Group

Areas of expertise

Digital trade
Trade and technology
Sustainable trade
Trade facilitation

Alex Capri

Research Fellow, Hinrich Foundation and lecturer, NUS Business School

Areas of expertise

Technology and trade
Global value chains
Tariffs and non-tariff barriers

Maria Adele Carrai

Assistant Professor of Global China Studies, NYU Shanghai

Andrea Durkin

Former Principal of Sparkplug, LLC and creator of Consensus Learning, LLC

Areas of expertise

US-China relations
WTO
Tariffs and trade barriers

Alice Calder

Freelance writer and economist

Areas of expertise

Immigration and international trade
Innovation and entrepreneurship
Economics and culture

Gary Clyde Hufbauer

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Scott Miller

Senior Adviser, Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy, CSIS

Bruce Hirsh

Principal and Founder, Tailwind Global Strategies LLC

Richard M. Rossow

Senior Adviser and Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies, CSIS

Leslie Griffin

Principal, Allinea LLC

Colin Robertson

Vice President, Canadian Global Affairs Institute

Harry Clapsis

Government Affairs Manager, Semiconductor Industry Association

Max Moncaster

Manager, Industry Affairs, BASF

Kevin Doyle

International Trade Specialist, US Department of Commerce

Andrew Lepczyk

Research Analyst, National Association of Corporate Directors

Christine McDaniel

Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center

Anne Kim

Editor, Washington Monthly, and Author of Abandoned: America’s Lost Youth and the Crisis of Disconnection