Josh Kagan joins Emily and Geoff to give the big picture behind recent U.S. tariffs related to forced labor, as well as providing an insider’s view on the future of trade and labor issues. In an area that is often a blind spot for the U.S. national security community, Josh helps explain why labor issues have become central to the U.S. approach on trade. Josh Kagan is Special Counsel at Kelley Drye and previously served as the Assistant United States Trade Representative for Labor Affairs at USTR. USTR, Section 301 Investigation into Forced Labor Washington Post Editorial Board, “Trump tries a new trick to raise tariffs,” June 3, 2026 USTR, “Ambassador Greer Pens Letter to Washington Post Editorial Board in Response to June 3 Editorial” Jamie Tronnes & Emily Kilcrease, “Trump’s Replacement Tariffs Will Have Unintended Consequences for USMCA,”National Review, June 12, 2026 Robert Lighthizer, No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America's Workers Michael Beeman, Walking Out: America’s New Trade Policy in the Asia-Pacific and Beyond Sherrod Brown, Myths of Free Trade: Why American Trade Policy Has Failed

Show Notes: Geoffrey Gertz and Eleanor Hume, Invested Allies: How the Private Sector Can Boost U.S.-South Korea Economic Security Cooperation

Sara Schuman joins Emily to debrief on the Trump-Xi summit. She explains why it's OK to have a summit that is light on deliverables, describes how China is viewing its relative strength in the relationship, and outlines what she's looking for in the year ahead. Sara recently joined CNAS as an adjunct senior fellow, after a long career working on China trade issues for the U.S. government. She is also managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, where she leads the firm's international trade practice.

"US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Talks China Trade," Bloomberg Talks Camille Boullenois, Malcolm Black, and Alessia Caruso, China’s Next-Generation Industrial Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Rhodium Group Laura Silver and Laura Clancy, "Americans’ views of China have grown somewhat more positive in recent years," Pew Research Center Graham Allison, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? The White House, "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Secures Historic Deals with China, Delivering for American Workers, Farmers, and Industry" Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, "President Xi Jinping Holds Talks with U.S. President Donald J. Trump"

Earlier this week, Emily hosted Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security Chris Pilkerton for a live discussion at CNAS.

Investment security has emerged as a central pillar of U.S. national security and foreign policy, with expanding sets of U.S. and partner government policies addressing the national security implications of certain investment flows. The discussion will explore the administration’s perspectives on investment security and its ongoing efforts to both strengthen and streamline investment security programs, as well as how investment security fits into broader U.S. work to manage intensifying geopolitical competition.

You can watch the full event here.

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 the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. They delve into why stabilizing oil prices will be easier said than done and what the current crisis has demonstrated about the effectiveness of U.S. economic pressure. Emily Kilcrease, Hit It With Your Best Shot: An American Doctrine of Economic Pressure

This episode was recorded on Tuesday, April 7, before a 2-week ceasefire was announced between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

A year ago, the Trump administration unveiled an ambitious plan to reset the global trading system on a day President Donald Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” overturning decades of precedent and ushering in a new era of a far more assertive U.S. trade policy. While the long-term effects of the administration’s trade strategy remain uncertain, one year of the new trade approach has fundamentally shifted how America talks about the legal, economic, and political dynamics of trade. ​​​​​​​This live episode was hosted by CNAS experts Emily Kilcrease and Geoffrey Gertz and features Kathleen Claussen, professor of law at Georgetown Law; Laura Silver, associate director at the Pew Research Center; and Chris Kennedy, adjunct senior fellow at CNAS. The discussion assessed the legal ramifications of the administration’s trade approach, highlighted new polling data from Pew Research on American views on U.S. trade policy, and examined why the economic impacts of the tariffs have not been as severe as initially projected.

Watch the event and find the fun graphs from Pew Research here.

USTR, Liberation Day One Year Later: Protecting American Jobs and Delivering Greater Market Access for American Farmers, Ranchers, and Manufacturers CNAS Insights, A Year After Liberation Day, Can Trump’s Trade Wars Be Salvaged?

Pew Research, How Americans View Trump’s Handling of Trade and Tariffs

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).

• 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