Sergio Marchi was recently invited by UPS to speak at their Trade Forum for CEOs in West Palm Beach.

Here are his remarks regarding the state of global trade:

Politically, Washington is badly divided. Trade has become somewhat of a ‘dirty’ word, where prevailing currents in the Democratic Party and the labor constituency make things even more complicated for the President, and where next year’s election campaign already looms large. As well, so many other international conflicts and uncertainties compete for US attention and leadership. The international circuits are overloaded.

The old and influential developed country ‘Quad’, which had two members from the Americas — US and Canada— joining the EU and Japan, is no longer in vogue. It has been replaced by the quintet — US, EU, India, China, and Brazil — where the developing countries now hold the majority sway.

Read the rest here.