In a Wall Street Journal article “The Future of Global Trade,” Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman predicts radical changes ahead for the way the world does business. They include more complex global governance, automation of high-tech work and greater cross-border collaboration on ideas.
A few of his points:
- Long-distance trade in manufacturing and agriculture will decline due to the rise of 3D and 4D printing and urban farming, which localize production.
- Meanwhile, international cooperation in the free flow of ideas will increase, making regulation, ownership of ideas and governing more difficult.
- The New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank may gain more influence over global trade, lessening the role of the World Trade Organization as arbiter and overseer.
Huntsman suggests that China and other emerging countries are “increasingly setting the pace in world trade” while not promoting an open trading system that expands growth. Huntsman is a former ambassador to China and Singapore, governor of Utah and deputy U.S. trade representative. He ran for president in the 2012 Republican primary. He has said he has ruled out a 2016 president run but hopes to influence the race.
See Huntsman’s Article “The Future of Global Trade” for more of his thoughts.
