GSA hosts economics meeting, supports E.U.’s free-trade stance

International trade group Global Shippers’ Alliance (GSA) met on Mar. 26 and 27 in Hong Kong to discuss the implications of proposed U.S. tariffs and increasingly strained trade relations that industry players in Asia, North America, the U.K. and the European Union may face in the near future.

The European shippers’ group pledged its support of the E.U.’s continued effort to minimize any impending negative effects caused by Brexit and Trump-era protectionism, advising that countries “take their own responsibility in order to find solutions to avoid damage to international trade.”

Currently, 40 percent of international GDP is dependent on cross-border trade, a 7 percent fall since 2007, according to a statement from the GSA. The group harkened back to the stomach-dropping 25 percent reduction in international trade that occurred in the four-year span between 1929 and 1930, caused in part by tariffs and other protectionist policies that mirror the current global state of affairs.

The airfreight industry could see international trade continue to fall if appropriate measures aren’t taken by concerned parties, GSA said.