On July 8th, 2013, the United States and the European Union started negotiations on the  Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), which is to create a free trade area.  In this working paper, Tim Josling and Christophe Crombez study the prospects for such a transatlantic free trade area, starting with the background behind why the T-TIP is on the agenda now and what areas of trade are being negotiated.  They analyze who stands to benefit from such a trade and investment agreement, how long it might take to reach such an agreement, and what factors might influence its acceptability to legislators.