The FT Future Forum think-tank is supported by our foundation partners — Bridgepoint, Google, Huawei and Iberdrola — and these groups help to fund our quarterly reports.
Partners also share their business perspective on the think-tank advisory board, and contribute thought leadership pieces to the reports. Below are the thought leadership pieces submitted by Huawei and Iberdrola on the US-China trade war.
The current push towards a technological decoupling – born of a desire to suppress competition and restrict choice – is at odds with the way that technology has boomed over the past 20 years.
When state-of-the-art tech is combined with globalisation, the benefits enjoyed by customers and organisations are substantial.
Technology thrives in a competitive, open world. It evolves best when not placed in a straitjacket, such as that imposed by national borders. It is no coincidence that two decades of openness have gone hand in hand with rapid innovation.
Since the Information Technology Agreement was signed in 1996, removing tariffs on 97 per cent of technology products, tech sector trade has quadrupled, access to the internet has boomed and the tech ecosystem has globalised, driven mainly by consumer demand in the US and Europe.
Suddenly, tackling the world’s biggest challenges seemed well within our grasp. The intent was there and, with healthy competition flourishing, investment in research and development quickly followed.
Like many global tech groups, Huawei enjoyed growth because of liberalised global market conditions and openness.
The company was quick to seize the opportunities and it has invested more than $73bn in research and development since 2010.
Other groups have done likewise, providing direct benefits to the countries in which they work, all around the world.
Innovation creates jobs, boosts gross domestic product and lifts living standards.
Recently, Huawei has borne the brunt of US hostility to globalisation, which has included allegations of secret subsidies.
Our supply chain adapted to this pressure, allowing us to continue serving our customers. Our investment in research and development, and work with commercial and academic partners, continues to create benefits for those nations committed to free trade and open markets.
Huawei believes in globalisation and open competition, a level playing field, the protection of intellectual property and non-discrimination. We also support a rules-based global trading system underpinned by the World Trade Organization.
If it is allowed to gather pace, anti-globalisation could result in competing systems, which in turn will reduce innovation. This would set back global connectivity and push up costs … and the biggest losers will be consumers.
Let us not jeopardise future benefits by pursuing forced fragmentation. Instead, let us collaborate on goals such as setting global rules for the new era of digital trade. Cooperation is the way we can unlock the full potential of innovation.
The ability to engage in open global trade is critical for an industry like renewable energy. The solutions that are helping to shape the energy transition towards a more sustainable future come in many forms, with concepts and components devised, designed and developed in all corners of the world.
The climate crisis is an immediate threat, and barriers to trade and additional tariffs that inflate the cost of clean energy technologies would only serve to delay efforts to address the biggest issue facing the world.
As a company who has been building renewable power across the world for 20 years, we have seen the global supply chain increase in size and expertise to a level that the cost of clean energy has dropped sharply. We are now at the point where electricity from renewable sources is largely cheaper than traditional sources with greater emissions.
It has taken decades to get to this position, and at a time when the focus is squarely on squeezing the costs of clean energy megawatts even harder, it is far from desirable to consider a scenario where global trade tensions could result in costs beginning to increase again.
Of course every country wants the best for their own workers and for their own economies. The good news is that a cleaner planet will offer industrial opportunities across the world. As we move to greener energy systems globally, with electrified transport and heating, the potential for economic prosperity is vast for countries willing to take a leading role.
In the race to make renewables even more competitive, there are also obvious benefits in countries sharing knowledge and information in the development of systems and technologies, to find the best and most efficient solutions. So if situations arise where countries solely focus on their own technology developments, and there is little or no knowledge exchange, then we risk a situation where clean energy does not achieve its full potential globally in terms of cost and efficiency.
Europe continues to be a good example of what can be achieved when different countries work together with a common goal, and the EU is showing political and economic leadership. The unique European cooperative model is, more than ever, the right approach to address the common challenges we are facing, such as climate change.
