KITA hosts conference on global trade environment for 2021

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee gives a congratulatory speech for KITA's international conference on “Prospects and Challenges for 2021 Global Trade Environment,” held in Seoul, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) held an online conference on “Prospects and Challenges for 2021 Global Trade Environment” on Monday and Tuesday.

The event was divided into two parts ― an EU session on the first day and a U.S. session on the second.

Five panelists including Ignacio Garcia Bercero, a director from the European Commission's DG Trade, and Alan Winters, a professor at the University of Sussex, who participated in the very first conference talking about challenges to the rule-based international trade order and EU trade policy.

KITA Chairman Kim Young-ju expressed his concerns over possible trade conflicts next year as countries adopt their own policies on digital services and environmental issues.

“We should make our best effort to minimize the conflict and friction through the establishment and cooperation of trade norms at the multilateral level,” Kim said during the opening remarks.

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee also said in a congratulatory speech that the world should create a stable and predictable trade environment and develop an international order on new issues such as digital technology and sustainability.

“Global cooperation should be strengthened to restore the multilateral trade order represented by the World Trade Organization,” Yoo said.

Garcia Bercero added Europeans seek their own interest but, at the same time, keeps the international trade open through its new trade policy based on “Open Strategic Autonomy.”

“The policy will help European companies, workers and consumers enjoy the benefit of opening the trade barriers between the countries while strengthening resiliency to protect them from unfair practices in foreign countries and prepare them for future challenges through diversification of supply chains,” Garcia Bercero said.

At the U.S. session held on Tuesday, experts including Jennifer Hillman, a senior fellow at Council on Foreign Relations and former member of the WTO Appellate Body, and Chad Bown, a senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics, discussed changes and prospects in the U.S. trade policies and international trade order after the U.S. presidential election.

Hillman said the Biden administration will support WTO reforms and the restoration of a norm-based trade system unlike the Trump administration.

“It is highly likely that the U.S. will cooperate with its allies on major issues such as fisheries subsidies, digital commerce and transparency reinforcement,” Hillman said.