NPSIA, Carleton University
The Practice of Trade Negotiations
This is a skills-based course on how to design and implement a government’s trade negotiations strategy. The course will examine each stage in trade negotiations, using real-life cases and simulations to apply the knowledge learned. Practical examples will be drawn from both developed and developing countries. The course is based on the experience of current and former trade negotiators and diplomats from Canada, the US, the UK, Russia, Africa, the Caribbean, and several Latin American and Asian countries.
The course consists of eight sessions on how to prepare for, and negotiate, an international trade agreement that advances a country’s commercial and socio-economic interests. The remaining four sessions is a capstone trade negotiation simulation to integrate the knowledge and skills development from the earlier sessions. The simulation is based on a bilateral trade negotiation taking place in real time during the course delivery. Students will be asked to develop and implement a trade negotiation strategy for selected chapters in these bilateral negotiations.
Trade, Development and Diplomacy in Practice – Geneva Study Tour
This is a practical, skills development course on how to design, negotiate and implement a national trade and development strategy with a particular focus on Canada. The course combines short lectures, exercises, and simulations. This experiential approach provides students with opportunities to both apply what’s learned in class and to practice how they might serve as a trade and development expert in a career in government, international organizations or the non-profit sector.
The course has both an online component and a study tour component. The course begins with the online component which consists of 4 three-hour evening sessions prior to the study tour. It is then followed by a five-day study tour in Geneva, Switzerland. Students are responsible for all their travel and related costs to participate in the study tour. The online sessions will provide participants with the background to engage fully in the study tour component of the course. The sessions will focus on how to design and implement an effective trade, development and diplomacy (TDD) strategy from both a developed and developing country perspective.
Trade Policy in Practice
This course introduces students to the practice of Canadian trade policy and Canada’s place in the global trading system centered in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Canada-US-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA), and other trade agreements. The course considers Canadian trade practice and the role of trade policy within the broader context of Canadian policy-making (such as the links between trade policy, foreign policy, international development policy, industrial policy, agricultural policy, environmental policy, labour policy, and cultural policy). The course uses an experiential learning approach in its delivery: classes consist of short presentation with discussions, case exercises and/or simulations with debriefing sessions to focus on lessons learned and takeaways.
The overall objective of the course is to provide students with the tools and skills to become an effective trade policy analyst in government, international organisations, or the private or non-profit sectors. These tools and skills can also be applied effectively to other areas of public policy, both domestic and international.
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Strategic Trade Policy and Trade Negotiations
This is a skills development-oriented course on how to design, negotiate and implement a government’s international trade strategy. The course is highly interactive, using the simulation of a negotiation of chapters in a prospective bilateral trade negotiation to get practical experience on how to negotiate a modern trade agreement.
The classes combine lectures with case studies, presentations, and discussions on the fundamentals of trade agreements, trade policy formulation, trade negotiations and trade strategy. In preparation for the simulation, students will be provided with practical instruction on negotiation strategies and techniques, and direction on how to formulate and execute strategies to achieve negotiating objectives. These overviews will be complemented by presentations by briefings on the negotiating issues to be addressed during the simulation. Students will be assigned to one of two country teams for the simulation. Each student will take on the role of subject matter expert, lead negotiator on a particular issue, or Chief Negotiator on each team.