This article evaluates the implications of the emerging trade policy of the Obama administration. The article begins by sketching a picture of the administration‟s trade-related initiatives and situating them in the context of the trade objectives articulated by the president during the last presidential election. The article then examines the trade aspects of the administration‟s stimulus and economic recovery programs. It focuses on their consistency with U.S. international trade obligations and with the long-standing commitment of the United States to a free and open multilateral trading system. The article further explores the policy and political considerations that would affect the implementation of the trade-related aspects of the administration‟s environmental and labor protection initiatives. The article concludes with the caution that Obama‟s mixed messages on trade, measured by his rhetoric and policies, are detrimental to the pro-trade reputation of the United States and might embolden protectionists, both within and outside the United States.