Other-Than-Industry Representation on Industry Trade Advisory Committees

Abstract

This article covers the often-overlooked framework for developingtrade policy in the United States. With two major international trade agreements currently in the midst of negotiations, the stakes are high for industry groups and other-than-industry actors looking to have their interests manifested in the final texts of these plurilateral pacts. Historically, the voices of other-than-industry actors have been restrained by their underrepresentation among the highly-influential Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), the most powerful cohort of committees in the trade policy framework. While the Obama Administration has sought to increase the potency of other-than-industry actors by creating additional opportunities for participation elsewhere in the trade policy framework, it is unclear that this solution provides the most effective remedy for groups seeking to exert greater influence in the trade policy arena.