Initiated in collaboration with my Laurier colleague Patricia Goff, this exploratory research has shown that emerging trade policy dynamics provide an excellent case study of multilevel politics. Sub-federal institutions (especially governments and legislatures) have evolved as important actors in trade policy. More often than not, actors representing the federal (or, in the EU: supranational) level are required to include sub-federal entities, such as provinces, in the negotiation and/or ratification of trade agreements. The main questions that our team has identified indicate the need for an encompassing research agenda that will help to understand and resolve core problems and systemic challenges of contemporary trade governance:

1. Comparing and explaining the institutional characteristics of multilevel trade governance in North America, Europe and Australia
2. Identifying, monitoring, and explaining the patterns and causes of policy change, including the scope and contents of trade agreements, in the field of external and internal trade policy
3. Evaluating the effects of greater sub-federal involvement for the efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy of trade policy governance for a range of stakeholders.