Four experts weigh in on the role of free trade in driving U.S. economic growth and competitiveness amid high U.S. unemployment and a faltering global economic recovery.

The Asia Society Task Force reviews the phenomenon of East Asian regionalism and offers policy-relevant suggestions for the Obama administration to renew and deepen engagement between the United States and Asia.

Rob Quartel, chairman and CEO of NTELX, discusses the need for investment in U.S. infrastructure with CFR's James M. Lindsay. "We really have to focus on alternative means for paying for infrastructure," argues Quartel.

Kurt J. Nagle, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities, discusses the infrastructure investment needed to increase U.S. trade and competitiveness with CFR's director of studies, James M. Lindsay.

Task Force members discuss the findings of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force Report on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy, and make recommendations for future international trade policies.

Task Force members discuss the findings of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force Report on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy, and make recommendations for future international trade policies.

The U.S. ratification of the stalled Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama indicates that "there is a possibility, despite the very great partisan divisions in Congress, of bipartisan cooperation on economic issues," says CFR's Edward Alden. However, Alden emphasizes that "it is important not to overstate the potential job creation benefits" of the agreements.

As Presidents Lee and Obama reaffirm the relationship and celebrate congressional approval of a long-pending free trade deal, they must also focus on difficult challenges ahead with North Korea and China's rise, say experts.

The longstanding U.S.-South Korea alliance, created as a bulwark against a communist North Korea, has expanded to include tighter trade ties and cooperation on global issues from climate change to international development.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's visit to Washington is likely to see passage of the Free Trade Agreement and coordination on strategies for pushing North Korea toward denuclearization, says CFR's Scott Snyder.

A U.S. Senate bill targeting China's controversial currency policy risks provoking retaliatory measures from Beijing, say analysts, and would make little headway in advancing U.S. economic interests.

As President Barack Obama hosts Lee in an official state visit at the White House, Snyder and CFR senior fellow and trade expert Edward Alden discuss the U.S.-Korea relationship and the KORUS-FTA.

Battles in a bitterly divided Congress are rendering U.S. international economic policy impotent or counterproductive.

Evan A. Feigenbaum argues that expanded trade and investment between India and the United States can both diversify and solidify a partnership to which both governments are deeply committed.

In Washington's current political climate, Jagdish Bhagwati sees an end to American leadership on multilateral free trade.

A team of economists finds damages to the U.S. labor market by Chinese imports to be graver than imagined.

Michael Spence writes that structural change and expansion in the tradable sector will be necessary to restore U.S. economic growth.

Experts discuss the findings and recommendations of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy.

The U.S. needs to revitalize trade policy and spur foreign investment in this country--timely ingredients for a job-creating economic resurgence, says former senator Thomas Daschle, co-chair of a new CFR independent task force on trade and investment.

This Independent Task Force report encourages the Obama administration and Congress to adopt a "pro-America" trade policy that brings to more Americans the benefits of global engagement.