Since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in 2016 and again in 2024, economic globalization has appeared to wither as he wields the tariff toolbox willy-nilly, fueling rising protectionism worldwide. Trump's tariff hikes in late July on Washington's top 60 trade partners seem to be the latest sign of that shift.
"The world has been experiencing globalization. It has been slowing down, but we are not entering deglobalization. We are entering reconfiguration of globalization," Lili Yan Ing, Secretary General of the International Economic Association (IEA), said during a recent exclusive interview with South.
Unforeseeable outcomes led by globalization
The world, in Ing's eyes, has been reaping the benefits of globalization for decades by lifting people out of poverty, providing public goods, raising trade and investment, and creating jobs. Most economies, including China, the U.S. and Southeast Asia, have shared in the dividends.
World Bank data underpin her observation. The ratio of trade to GDP worldwide has accounted for more than half of output since the start of the 21st century, climbing to 60 percent in 2008 before the financial crisis pulled it back. By 2025, it had reached 68 percent, up from about 26 percent in 1970.
Despite all the achievements, Ing warns that people should also acknowledge the unintended consequences of globalization. She listed inequality as one of them, a problem that occurs in most countries, including the U.S.
Figures from the U.S. Federal Reserve show that the wealth gap in American society has been widening since 2016. As of the first quarter of 2026, the bottom 50 percent of the U.S. population held a combined net worth of some $4.3 trillion, while the wealthiest 0.1 percent held over $25 trillion.
This severe inequality helps explain Trump's turn to mercantilism, which runs counter to globalization. Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvard Kennedy School and former president of the IEA, has argued that the U.S. is returning to mercantilism through Donald Trump's trade policies.
In an op-ed published on Project Syndicate in May, he wrote that "Trump's obsession with bilateral trade balances, glorification of import tariffs, and zero-sum approach to international trade has revived the worst mercantilist practices."
Echoing Rodrik's view regarding Trump's tariff policies, Ing noted that most serious economists agree that, in the global economy, there are no zero-sum gains in trade and investment.
"It's only narrow-minded people who adopt that mindset," she said. "The world might be the world minus one, but there are many things that average economies can contribute, and we shall work together."
Three priorities to reconfigure globalization
Given globalization's downsides, Ing proposes that it is now time for a reconfiguration — something the IEA is focused on.
She advocates three priorities to ensure that economic globalization brings positive impacts to all societies worldwide: more development indicators, greater domestic resilience and reliable governance of cutting-edge technologies.
Countries, in her view, should look beyond GDP figures and adopt other indicators of development, such as human capital development, which reflects inclusiveness, and the green transition, which reflects sustainability.
Amid the ongoing tariffs and protectionism, the IEA seeks to raise awareness about the vulnerability of countries that depend on only a handful of major economies. "It's very important for us to improve domestic resilience by diversifying in the fields of imports and exports, investment and payment systems," Ing added.
Above all, she stressed that advanced technologies such as digital transformation, robotics and AI must be sound and reliable.
"This is something that countries need to start working on, ensuring that we as humans will control AI, because soon we'll be sharing the world with superintelligence," she said.
To resolve the three issues, countries should make sure they keep working on the basis of openness, respect and certainty, the IEA Secretary General concluded.
Reporter | Zhang Ruijun
Photo | CFP
