Consumers rely on global trade and supply networks to get their daily bread, medicines, clothes, furniture, vehicles, fuel and personal tech. Globalization is such an inherent part of consumer markets that few of us give it any thought - until crisis hits.

Consumers purchasing a familiar product might not feel like part of a geopolitical and economic battleground, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that is affecting what they can buy at what price. We want to Start Talking about the need to give the consumer impact of the current global trade disruption proper attention.

During the webinar, our experts will explore some live trade challenges like Electric Vehicles, Food and Farming and Product Safety and ask how we got to this point, and what the impact on consumers now and in the future could be, with questions like:

- What are the benefits of global trade for consumers in this area?

- Where has trade struggled to deliver on wider, non-economic outcomes in this area?

- How could it be done in a way that delivers on economic targets and beyond, e.g. climate goals; SDGs; digital security; trust and good consumer outcomes?

- What are the wider social, economic, political issues at stake?

Participants:

• Lea Auffret, Senior International Affairs Policy Officer, BEUC

• Rodrigo Carcamo, Chief of Commodities Policy Implementation and Outreach Section, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development)

• Antonino Serra Cambaceres, ADELCO (a leading Argentinian consumer organisation) and Ibero-American Forum of Government Consumer Protection Agencies (FIAGC)

• Harald Past, Head of International Trade and Taxation, EuroCommerce

• Stefano da Empoli, President, I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness