The recent COVID-19 pandemic and cross-border political conflicts have posed great risks to international trade which is vital to economic growth and prosperity. Despite the apparent benefit of international trade, the global community’s efforts to manage and expand fair trade has not been active enough to achieve a sustainable economic recovery. Many countries increasingly consider national security as an important factor when reinforcing trade policies and have become far more selective in choosing their economic partners.
To alleviate the disruption of supply chains, especially of strategically important goods, we suggest accomplishing a standstill of trade restriction policies by forming a cooperative network among like-minded countries. Strengthening the role of OECD as the supervisor of protectionist activities could help expand trust among participating countries and stabilize the GVCs. Moreover, the inclusion of additional countries with high shares of global trade to the G7 could enhance economic influence to facilitate international trade and would become a new engine for trade market growth.
