The Looming Trade Challenges.

Trade has not played a major role this year in either the presidential race or in most congressional contests in the U.S. But in America's rapidly globalizing economy, trade looms as a major challenge for the incoming U.S. Congress and whoever wins the presidency. The new administration must wrap up a string of unfinished bilateral free trade negotiations and probably find a way to gracefully abandon talks for a Western Hemisphere free trade deal, which after a decade of head-butting seems hopelessly deadlocked. Also, the new Congress and president might no longer be able to avoid dealing with the flood tide of imports coming from China, especially as China sells to the U.S. increasingly sophisticated products that directly threaten U.S. jobs.