Study Group with Amb. Katherine Tai: Lessons on Wielding Power with Principle

Study Group with Ambassador Katherine Tai: Speaking Truth to Trade: Lessons on Wielding Power with Principle

She is best known as Speaker of the House, for delivering the Affordable Care Act, and as a masterful Appropriator. But Speaker Pelosi has also played a pivotal role in every trade bill that has been presented to Congress in the modern era: from NAFTA and China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR), to leveraging the power of the Speakership to re-open and re-negotiate four George W. Bush era trade agreements in 2007 (Peru, Panama, South Korea, and Colombia) and again in 2019 to re-negotiate – the already re-negotiated NAFTA – with the first Trump administration. Speaker Pelosi has engaged in and led some of the most brutal battles between Congress and various U.S. administrations (of both parties) over trade policy, in accordance with a set of unshakable principles grounded in human and worker rights, environmental protection, and democracy.

This session will be an opportunity to hear first-hand from Speaker Pelosi about the most significant milestones in trade policy and politics spanning the core years of the “neoliberal era” and how policy, politics – and the relationship between Congress and the Executive branch – have changed over time and continue to change today.

GUEST: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita (CA-11)

AUDIENCE: These conversations are open to members of the Harvard community. Please RSVP with a valid Harvard email address. 

OFF-THE-RECORD: In keeping with our long tradition at the IOP to ensure honest and candid discussions of politics, all IOP study groups are off-the-record.