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Trade

Growing the innovation economy requires tight and deep integration of global markets—but with the critical caveat that this integration must come with strong commitments to openness and robust, market-oriented national competitiveness policies, not protectionist market distortions. ITIF's research focuses on how to promote robust trade, especially in innovation-based industries, and curb the spread of innovation mercantilism in all its forms.

Rodrigo Balbontin
Rodrigo Balbontin

Associate Director

Trade, IP, and Digital Technology Governance

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Stephen Ezell
Stephen Ezell

Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, and Director, Center for Life Sciences Innovation

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Featured

Letter to the Trump Administration Regarding Non-Tariff Attacks on US Tech Firms and Industries

Letter to the Trump Administration Regarding Non-Tariff Attacks on US Tech Firms and Industries

Foreign governments are systematically deploying policies that constitute non-tariff attacks (NTAs) on America’s leading technology companies. ITIF and other think tank scholars and policy experts urge the administration to put these unfair NTAs on the U.S. trade agenda and insist that America’s trading partners address them.

Retaliatory Tariffs Could Cut US ITA Exports by $56 Billion

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.

Toward Globalization 2.0: A New Trade Policy Framework for Advanced-Industry Leadership and National Power

Toward Globalization 2.0: A New Trade Policy Framework for Advanced-Industry Leadership and National Power

Globalization 1.0 has failed, but protectionist autarky cannot be its replacement. Instead, it is past time to craft a new kind of globalization that advances U.S. interests in key industries and prevents China from becoming the dominant techno-economic power.

The Trade Imbalance Index: Where the Trump Administration Should Take Action to Address Trade Distortions

The Trade Imbalance Index: Where the Trump Administration Should Take Action to Address Trade Distortions

As the Trump administration seeks to rebalance America’s trade relationships, it should focus the most attention on countries where U.S. industries face the worst trade distortions and imbalances, and where the greatest gains can be achieved for the U.S. economy. China, India, and the European Union top that list.

Go to the Mattresses: It’s Time to Reset U.S.-EU Tech and Trade Relations

Go to the Mattresses: It’s Time to Reset U.S.-EU Tech and Trade Relations

In its bid for tech sovereignty, the EU has been aggressively targeting U.S. firms and industries with unfair protectionist policies. This cannot stand. To move forward into a new era of deeper transatlantic trade integration, America must first demand a level playing field.

More Publications and Events

September 23, 2025|Events

2025 Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance Summit

The 2025 “South Meets North” Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA) Annual Summit will bring together leading local and international experts in Buenos Aires to exchange effective strategies in innovation-related policies.

September 17, 2025|Events

The Impact of Foreign Regulation on US Technology Leadership and Security

Please join ITIF’s Aegis Project for an expert panel discussion with leaders from the Council on Global Competitiveness and Innovation (CGCI) and Shield Capital as we examine the vital role Big Tech plays in U.S. technology leadership and national security.

August 4, 2025|Blogs

Recent US Trade Actions Are Directionally Correct, but Incomplete

Room remains for the Trump administration to better balance the interests of restoring American manufacturing, removing other nations’ unfair trade practices, and orientating like-mined nations to the long-term China threat in the execution of the Trump administration’s trade and tariff policies.

August 4, 2025|Blogs

South Korea Should Choose Friends Over Foes for Semiconductor Production

South Korea must reduce its reliance on China for both semiconductor exports and raw materials by strengthening alliances with the United States and its partners, aligning with export controls, and building a more secure, diversified supply chain to safeguard its long-term competitiveness in the global chip race.

August 1, 2025|Blogs

From Trade Deals to Trojan Horses: China’s Expanding Digital Aggression on Europe

China has spent the last five years escalating a coordinated cyber campaign against Europe—targeting lawmakers, infrastructure, and institutions—even as the EU considers deepening economic ties, exposing a dangerous contradiction in its approach to Beijing.

July 21, 2025|Blogs

Letting US Companies Sell Second-Tier Chips to China Is the Right Move

The Trump administration should maintain export controls where they clearly advance national security. But it should also ensure that U.S. companies can compete globally, reinvest in innovation, and remain central to the technologies that will shape the future.

July 18, 2025|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles

American Tech Companies Are Under Attack in Global Markets

The Trump administration should push back against foreign governments enacting policies specifically tailored to undermine American tech companies and US leadership.

July 10, 2025|Presentations

Digital Trade and Digital Services

Rodrigo Balbontin speaks about digital trade and digital services.

July 7, 2025|Blogs

The Tortured Logic of Digital Services Taxes

Policymakers must justify why they should be allowed to tax the major digital companies differently from the leading firms in other industries. This challenge explains why so much of the DST debate has centered around obscure and abstract notions of a company’s “physical presence” and whether the company’s users “create value.”

July 7, 2025|Blogs

Time for Strategic Clarity on the US Trade Agenda

With limited bandwidth for negotiations, we can no longer afford to treat all trade sectors equally. The administration should focus on what matters most for America’s economic and national security future: defending our technology industry from foreign attacks.

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