A new group of countries, the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership (FIT-P), could be established to defend free trade against U.S. protectionist measures. Launched by Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand, the partnership would include Morocco and Rwanda among about ten potential members, such as Malaysia, Costa Rica, and Norway.
According to the Financial Times, the aim of FIT-P is to strengthen an international trade system based on clear rules. The group, designed to be flexible, plans to focus on practical measures such as the recognition of electronic signatures and the harmonization of e-commerce rules, in order to make trade more efficient.
This initiative is a direct response to Washington’s policy of favoring bilateral agreements and unilaterally raising tariffs. Such policies weaken the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) multilateral consensus and raise concerns among many countries. The creation of this joint front is a strategy already recommended by several experts to counter such asymmetrical agreements. The European Union, for instance, has already strengthened its ties with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), another free trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region.
