The currently-pending trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership has generated considerable controversy, in part due to the secrecy with which it has been negotiated. A perceived lack of transparency has created a threshold perception of a democratic deficit and has invited questions about the balance of legislative and executive power, industry capture, and freedom of information. This paper looks at the practices of the United States Trade Representative and selected international treaty-making bodies to explore the origins of the current conflict over information access in trade diplomacy and to identify what these trends may portend for information access regarding future agreements.