March 27, 2026
Why Is There No Trade Jail? With Ambassador María Pagán.
María Pagán joins Emily and Geoff for a wide-ranging discussion on the past, present, and future of U.S. trade law and policy. They assess what’s working (and what’s not) at the WTO, the path forward for the Trump administration’s tariff strategy, and what to expect at this week’s WTO ministerial conference.
María Pagán was most recently Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and Chief of Mission for the Permanent Mission of the United States to the WTO. Prior to that, she was Deputy General Counsel at USTR, responsible for supervising and providing legal advice to senior USTR officials on all legal aspects regarding trade negotiations, implementation of trade agreements, and trade related legislation and regulations. Prior to joining USTR in 2003, she worked as an attorney advisor at the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce (1993 – 2003).
Show notes
- Ambassador Jamieson Greer, “Don’t Let International Law Get In the Way of Peace and Prosperity”, Speech at the University of Virginia School of Law, February 24, 2026
- USTR, Further Perspectives On WTO Reform Communication From The United States , March 23, 2026
- Dmitry Grozoubinski, Why Politicians Lie About Trade – and What You Need to Know About It
- Scott Miller and Bill Reinsch, "The Trade Guys" podcast
- Ardian Mollabeqiri and Robert Skidmore, “Trade Splaining” podcast
More from CNAS
-
Public Comments Submitted in Response to USTR Initiation of Section 301 Investigations
Commentary
Executive Summary In its request for comment, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) solicits comments on and recommendations “regarding the acts, policies, and p...
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
-
The Long Tail of the Hormuz Energy Crisis with Rachel Ziemba
Podcast
Emily is joined by Rachel Ziemba, CNAS adjunct senior fellow and energy markets expert, to unpack the ongoing energy crisis resulting from the U.S.-Iran military conflict and ...
By Emily Kilcrease & Rachel Ziemba
-
India First Debate: Daniel Silverberg and Sandeep Unnithan on U.S. Rescue Op and Iran Air Defence
Video
In this episode of India Today, anchor Gaurav Sawant discusses a high-stakes US special forces mission deep inside Iran. Joined by Daniel Silverberg, Managing Director of Caps...
By Daniel Silverberg
-
Hit It with Your Best Shot
Reports
Executive Summary America needs an economic pressure doctrine. The country is using economic pressure in more novel ways and at greater scale than any other time in the postwa...
By Emily Kilcrease
