The Global Trade Academy (GTA) has its roots in the 1980’s when the late Professor John H. Jackson, an architect of the World Trade Organization and former Director of the Institute, created a forum to take an in-depth look into the legal underpinnings of the WTO and its agreements.

Today, the GTA continues to be an indispensable boot camp in a seminar-like atmosphere on the Georgetown Law campus, offering participants an unparalleled deep dive into the most salient and complex legal and policy issues in global trade today.

Trade law and policy is front and center in today’s business climate, on the news, and in political debates around the globe. One of IIEL’s signature Executive Education programs, the GTA both examines the legal foundations and constitutional underpinnings of the WTO and its agreements and offers insight into the most cutting-edge global trade issues of the day with the world’s leading global trade experts.

THE CURRICULUM

The five-day Academy examines the legal obligations and policy underpinnings of the WTO and its agreements, in the context of how the WTO operates and how it relates to national governments. The GTA strengthens participants’ critical thinking about the role of the WTO in solving real-world commercial problems, and addresses fundamental policy challenges.

The first half of the week provides insights into the foundation of trade law and policy (i.e. workshops and lectures on trade in services, dispute settlement, trade in goods, trade remedies, and intellectual property protections). The second half of the week focuses on “trade plus” issues (i.e. workshops and lectures on export controls and sanctions, WTO & development, labor and environment, elections and trade, digital trade and the digital economy, and populist backlash to globalization).