In response to the current trade war initiated by the new U.S. administration, I-Com, together with other members of the GTIPA – the Global Trade and Innovation Alliance, has signed a joint declaration avdocating for a revitalization of global free trade and a reform of the current international order. The declaration calls for measures to counter mercantilist and market-disruptive policies while rewarding market-based countries compling with WTO rules.
Data shows that trade openess has been a pivotal factor for global economic growth and particulalrly beneficial for developping countries between tha last and the current centuries. It has been demostrated that the economic advantages of liberalization substantially outweigh potential drawbacks.
Against this backdrop, the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA) urges global leaders and policymakers to take the following actions:
- safeguard WTO complying countries and take actions against those, like China, that that fail to uphold international commitments and engage in mercantilist and disruptive practices;
- promote the expansion and extension of the existing network of trade agreements, especially those ones regarding ICT products, digital economy and innovation, such as the “Innovation Trade Agreement” (ITA);
- minimize economic uncertainty in order to encourage investments in innovation and risk-taking actions;
- rethink globalization, under the lead of market-based economies, for “creating a fairer global trading system that limits harmful policies by incorporating pragmatism and judicious control”.
