By Clement Tan | Dec 5, 2024 | The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – Agency, agency, agency.
With Trump 2.0 tariffs lurking on the horizon, that was the common refrain invoked by several world leaders visiting Singapore this week, in asserting the idea that smaller economies have the power to act for themselves to mitigate the fragmenting effects of the rivalry among great powers such as China and the US.
In the Asia-Pacific, that could well mean increasing regional trade to ensure economic stability. South-east Asia as a bloc is expected to be the world’s fourth-largest economy after the US, China and India by the end of this decade.
“In the context of intense pressure on the global trading system, our region has agency,” Mr Don Farrell, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, said on Dec 2 in an address at the annual Next Step (Solutions to economic problems) Global Conference. It was organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“In 2025, it will be incumbent on those of us who understand the benefits of global trade rules to actively engage in support of the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core,” he added.
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