Global business body ICC launches worldwide campaign in Singapore to revitalise rules-based trade
The initiative comes as the US withdraws from global trade leadership, leaving a vacuum
[SINGAPORE] The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has launched a major global initiative in Singapore to push a business-backed trade revitalisation compact that aims to bring order back to the rules-based trading system that is under stress from uncertainties.
This was discussed at a roundtable on revitalising the multilateral trading system convened by ICC and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. It took place on the margins of the ICC executive board and regional consultative group Asia meetings.
Speaking to The Straits Times at The Singapore Edition hotel on Oct 23, ICC secretary-general John Denton said the initiative drew a strong consensus from the Asean constituency.
This includes senior government officials from Asean, the Asean Secretariat and business leaders from the Asean Business Advisory Council and ICC Asean National Committees.
The initiative comes as the United States withdraws from global trade leadership, leaving a vacuum with no clear replacement.
“That has just led to an enormous amount of uncertainty, which is actually the No 1 concern of businesses rather than the US tariffs themselves,” Denton said. “Tariffs hurt, but it’s the uncertainty that has caused companies worldwide to delay investments.”
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Based in Paris, the ICC represents 45 million businesses, large and small, from across 170 different countries. In Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation serves as the ICC’s national committee in the Republic, also referred to as ICC Singapore.
Singapore is also home to an international arbitration case management office for the ICC Court, a collaboration between the court and the Ministry of Law to serve regional dispute resolution needs.
Denton said: “The message was clear: The rules-based trading system is under strain, and the cost of inaction is steep, especially for Asean economies where trade has been a powerful engine of development.”
Asean economies, particularly Singapore, have been singled out as key convening hubs for the project. The city-state and the rest of Asean are among “one of the greatest beneficiaries of a functioning global trade system”. Denton warned that they also stand to lose the most from its erosion.
“Asean’s proven convening power, combined with its growing importance in the global economy, is precisely why we’ve chosen to begin our global government outreach in Singapore – laying the groundwork for broader engagement in the lead-up to the 14th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, next year,” he said.
Following the Singapore launch, Denton said he would carry the compact’s principles to Asean, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, COP meetings, and the Group of 20 summit in South Africa to secure a broad coalition.
The ICC’s campaign aims to “create certainty where there’s uncertainty, and put order back where there is disorder”, convening policymakers, academics and companies here and across Asean to restore predictability to cross-border trade.
He reckoned that the global trading environment is unlikely to return to the days before the US imposed new tariffs on goods entering the country.
But at the end of the day, the US accounts for 13 per cent of global trade, he said.
“The remaining 87 per cent now actually have to step up in this new kind of globalisation which, frankly, is going to be less efficient and probably not as quick as the previous system we’ve been operating under,” Denton said.
“But we have to lock something in to ensure the resilience of a system which is based on some level of certainty and order, which will enable businesses to operate and economies to continue to grow and benefit from the rules-based trading system. That’s what we are trying to do in Singapore,” he said, adding that he has been holding talks with policymakers, academics and businesses from Asean here.
The compact envisions a system extending beyond the WTO’s remit, integrating digital trade, green supply chains and trade finance reforms.
Denton said the ICC is pressing for transparent “rules of origin” and simplified customs to re-anchor confidence among the 45 million businesses in its network.
He added that the compact is meant to prevent the slow collapse of global trade, underscoring that 60 per cent of global gross domestic product remains trade-dependent.
Denton said the ICC hopes the initiative can avert a descent into fragmented bilateral power plays and preserve business-led prosperity through collective action anchored in transparency.
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