How AI Boosts Global Trade and Widens Imbalances: Supply Lines

The global economy’s latest transformational force is poised to shake up one of the oldest.

Among the questions posed by the Allianz Trade Global Survey 2024 released Tuesday is: Will artificial intelligence supercharge global trade?

The answer: yes.

The survey asked more than 3,000 companies in China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the UK and the US about their outlooks for global trade in the year ahead and the factors that will shape it. These range from government policy, geopolitics and election-year tariffs — like those the Biden administration is announcing on China today — to technological advances like AI.

“Our survey confirms that ...