Publications: Rodrigo Balbontin
July 7, 2025
Free Trade Protectionism: U.S. Tariffs Are Creating a New Trade Policy Paradox
As U.S. tariffs rise, countries are protecting themselves from American trade policy while cutting new free trade deals elsewhere. A new GTIPA report explores how this paradox could sideline the United States in the next global trade order.
June 30, 2025
How America’s Trading Partners Are Reacting to US Tariffs
Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA) members from 17 countries analyzed how their economies are reacting to U.S. tariffs. Many countries are seeking to support their local producers and establish trade arrangements that are less reliant on the United States.
June 9, 2025
Blocking Access to Foreign Pirate Sites: A Long-Overdue Task for Congress
More than a decade after the overheated SOPA/PIPA debate, experience from around the world shows that blocking access to piracy websites is an effective way to protect copyright holders and increase legal content consumption without harming legal commerce or free expression.
May 21, 2025
Who Needs the World Anyway? (American Innovators Do)
Advanced technology companies in the United States export more than half a trillion dollars annually. These firms also have a global presence by manufacturing abroad. Retaliation against U.S. tariffs would harm these exports and foster more offshoring.
May 5, 2025
Comments to the UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Regarding the UK Government’s China Audit
ITIF offered comments on evidence the UK government should draw on; short- and long-term objectives for the UK-China relationship; areas to engage with China, and areas to draw red lines; how engagement could affect other alliances; and how to assess dependencies on China while strengthening security and resilience.
April 23, 2025
Retaliatory Tariffs Could Cut US ITA Exports by $56 Billion
An ITIF model shows how foreign retaliation to tariffs announced by the Trump administration would reduce U.S. exports of the advance manufactured goods covered under the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement.
April 21, 2025
Rights and Wrongs: Trying to Understand Trump’s Trade Policy
Trump is right to confront unfair trade—but without strategic focus and allied cooperation, his tariffs risk handing the global economy to China.
April 15, 2025
Low Tariffs Aren’t Enough: Korea Should Remove Its Trade Barriers With the United States
South Korea faces a strategic decision: Address persistent trade asymmetries, or risk straining its long-standing alliance with the United States and lose autonomy vis-à-vis China. What’s needed is a genuine reset—one grounded in open trade and closer coordination with Washington to counter mercantilist practices.
April 4, 2025
Liberation Day Tariffs Miss the Real Target: China
The Trump administration’s "Liberation Day" tariffs foolishly alienate allies instead of strategically targeting China, inadvertently weakening U.S. competitiveness and handing a win to Beijing.